# Do Barn Swallows echo locate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 25, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-barn-swallows-echo-locate/450591 "2008-05-25T20:07:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-barn-swallows-echo-locate/450591/1 "2008-05-25T20:07:37Z")
[Barn Swallows,](http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2786821-md.jpg) we have a lot of them around the house because we have a large barn on the lot next door. Can’t see it from the house, because of a large stand of oak trees and brush but it’s about 500 yards from my back door. And directly behind the house is a 3.3 acre meadow and the swallows just love it in the early morning and evening…at least 20 individuals. I have watched them extensively and I notice that they chirp the same way some bats do, just barely audible but it registers…this afternoon I saw only one, and he was chirping away as he was catching the may flies. He was moving like he was using echo location, so like a bat. Long jerky flying, big archs and snap turns. It was cool to watch - I was just wondering if anyone knows of any research or anything as to whether or not they use echo location? Do any other animals use it besides certain known mammals? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-barn-swallows-echo-locate/450591/2 "2008-05-25T21:52:25Z")
I’m not 100% sure but I don’t think they do. I think they rely on their eyesight, flight agility and maneuverability and bristly whiskers to catch insects. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-barn-swallows-echo-locate/450591/3 "2008-05-25T23:52:11Z")
[Here ya go:](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F03EFDF1739F935A25754C0A9649C8B63) > [@](#): > > ‘‘Swallows are definitely visual foragers,’’ said Dr. David W. Winkler, a professor and curator of birds at Cornell. ‘‘They hunt only until dark, when the bats take over.’’ > > Several vision adaptations make catching insects in midair possible, he said. First, swallows have a very rapid response, seeing something like an electric light cycling on and off at 60 hertz, or cycles per second, as if it were a slow strobe. Dr. Winkler said he had watched a tree swallow darting its head back and forth to catch falling raindrops. > > Swallows also have two areas of sharp focus, called foveae, on each retina. These are indented spots with a concentration of cones, cells for seeing fine detail and color. Researchers think one is for distance and one for near vision, like bifocals, Dr. Winkler said. One would be for sighting prey and one for capture. > > …‘‘Also, we know swallows can perceive ultraviolet light, and suspect they can see polarization,’’ he continued. ‘‘The membranous wings of an insect probably look very different to us than to a swallow, and we suspect this helps them detect an insect from a greater distance.’’ ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-barn-swallows-echo-locate/450591/4 "2008-05-26T01:48:40Z")
Thank you! That’s it. I appreciate it ---
**Author:** ![DrMike2001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3e96dc/32.png) [@DrMike2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrMike2001)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-barn-swallows-echo-locate/450591/5 "2022-01-03T04:59:10Z")
I don’t know about barn swallows, but I am absolutely sure that some swallows can echo locate. I live in the Canadian prairies in Alberta. I have seen swallow, I don’t know what kind flying above a house I own very late on fine evenings in very dim light making short chirps. From their erratic flight patterns it was obvious they were pursuing insects etc. At the southern end of Palawan, an island belongs to the Philippines, there is an underground river which stretches 22 kilometres, about 13.75 miles. It flows into the sea through a bending narrow cave and small boats with lights take tourists, including myself, 8 kilometres or 5 miles from the entrance. I saw both bats and swallows fly at least that far into the cave. Deep inside. Without lights visibility must be zero. If research has not been done to determine for sure if swallows can echolocation, it should be. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-barn-swallows-echo-locate/450591/6 "2022-01-03T05:24:30Z")
African or European? _(You know someone would ask sooner or later?)_ ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-barn-swallows-echo-locate/450591/7 "2022-01-03T11:03:47Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, @DrMike2001 I fixed the formatting of your post. For future reference, do not put spaces at the beginning of paragraphs as this triggers the Discourse software that we use here to format the post as if it were code. It’s no biggie, but it does make your post difficult to read. Welcome, and we hope that you enjoy your time here. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-barn-swallows-echo-locate/450591/8 "2022-01-03T14:50:16Z")
**DrMike** - I’m not sure what from your observations makes you absolutely sure that the chirping, “erratically” flying birds are using echolocation. I see barn and tree swallows all the time on golf courses and at a lake house in Michigan. Always strikes me as an EXTREMELY difficult way to make a living! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-barn-swallows-echo-locate/450591/9 "2022-01-03T19:16:19Z")
I would’ve thought they just have extremely good vision for detecting movement of tiny prey. I was unnerved the first couple of times I was out mowing the back forty at our new place when it seemed like I was being dive-bombed by several barn swallows. Then I figured out that they were capitalizing on tasty insects flying up when disturbed by the mower. ---
**Author:** ![castanea108](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/castanea108/32/5536_2.png) [@castanea108](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/castanea108)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2022, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-barn-swallows-echo-locate/450591/10 "2022-01-05T20:21:07Z")
Birds can echolocate. Oilbirds (Steatornis caripensis) and some of the swiftlets (some species of Aerodramus and Collocalia) use echolocation to find their way in the caves where they nest. They don’t use it for catching insects though (probably not accurate enough). The oilbirds are nocturnal, but eat fruit. The swiftlets are diurnal and use their eyesight to hunt during the day.