Subject: Re: Bats...What is their range?

From: Robin Nuttall <[email-masked]>
Date: 2 Aug 1995 15:15:41 GMT

[email-masked] (Chris Lewis) wrote:

>I've been told that house swallows are considerably more effective than
>purple martins, in that the swallow's feeding height (low) is more compatible
>with mosquitoes.  The comment was that purple martins forage too high.
>And the housing requirement is simpler: ledges under eaves etc.
>

Uhhhhh, house swallows? There isn't any such bird in the US. Do you mean 
*barn* swallows? Or house finches/sparrows? I would think you mean barn 
swallows.

There are a lot of bird species that love insects, including most of the 
flycatchers (Phoebes, Pewees, Kingbirds, and of course, Flycathers). And, 
of course, the swallows and swifts (Rough wing, barn, cliff, bank, 
purple martin, chimney swifts in the Eastern US)

Where bats help is that they hunt at *night* versus birds 
hunting/catching insects by day. Nothing like 24 hour bug kill!

Robin Nuttall
[email-masked]