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These insectivores share with kingfishers the habit of nesting in burrows in vertical soil banks, which are all but absent in southern Louisiana. Therefore, most of the "Possible" records in the lower part of the state probably represent nonbreeding individuals.
painting by Louis Agassiz Fuertes 1914
male or female
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These insectivores were first observed nesting in the state in 1978. A 1988 issue of the Journal of Louisiana Ornithology (Vol. 1, pp. 24-26) discussed the earliest Louisiana nest records. Atlasers found breeding colonies under bridges across the state. Natchitoches Parish may have the most nest colonies. Cave Swallows (Petrochelidon fulva) began nesting in the state in 1988, but no one reported evidence of their breeding during the Atlas period.
painting by Louis Agassiz Fuertes 1914
female or male (left) and immature (right)
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These colonial, urban-tolerant, and ledge-nesting insectivores breed throughout the state, with the exception of some of the eastern parts of the Coastal Marsh region. This species began nesting in Louisiana around 1933 and has expanded its range southward to the coast in the latter half of the 1900's. The "Possible" records may represent nonbreeding individuals or birds that have commuted a few miles from nest sites to feed.
painting by Louis Agassiz Fuertes 1914
male (upper) and female (lower)