How Bison Are Helping Cliff Swallows Build Their Nests

It's a partnership that's as unlikely as any: herds of bison on the move are kicking up chunks of earth. This, in turn, gives cliff swallows the valuable mud pellets they need to build their nests.

[dhebert]

Just beautiful, this garden that was made for us. I grew up in rural Canada. The road I lived on had very few paved driveways. There were swallows nests in the gables of every single house. Now every house has a paved driveway and swallows nests in gables are extremely rare. The major impact it made is that the mosquitos are horrible at times now. The balance that existed since the 1600's is off. We have plans to change that next year. We still have a summers worth of data to collect and we should be able to restore that balance. I'm including education to our arsenal this summer in the peak of mosquito season, so that the locals are fully aware of the role these birds have played and will play going forward. We've been talking about this in certain circles throughout the community and its always well received. I'm confident they'll thrive here very soon, the people of this area are compassionate, caring and hospitable people. Great community. Alot of life around us plays a pivotal role in how we experience nature, and most of us are oblivious to this. That's o.k. too, it's a part of the beauty of the system. There are people who are interested enough for 100 people and that's o.k. too.

[mariashaffer-gordon]

Fascinating video. No wonder my husband and I saw so many cliff swallows in southwest South Dakota: they had plenty of bison helping them.

[merryhunt]

Remarkable photography! I have seen swallow nests on bridges, but never thought I'd get to see the building process in such detail.

[regulate]

I assumed it had something to do with the bison's poop.

[kroakie]

Aww! Swallows are such cute little birds!

[affinityforanime]

I figured from the title of this video the swallows would use bison hair as a binder for their nests.

[imtalt]

BABY BISON ARE SO CUTE THERE FUZZY CALFS OMG

[janetmunyirich]

2:33 cute bird was looking at the mud like ..😍😍😍

[plawson]

These species evolved together for thousands of years, of course one benefits from the other. This is why it's so important for humans to minimize our impact on the environment.

[anubhavadarsh]

So they are basically feathered wasps.

[AzlianaLyana]

Cute little builders will never stop to make a good home! Well done birdies🤗👍👏

[Eza_yuta]

Love to see beautiful birds free in the wild doing their things. In my place, there is no more. People capturing them.

[zhibaniola]

a confused cliff swallows asked.

"are we bees?"

[oleholehkuofficial]

"To collect something simple but crusial, mud" 👌👍👏nice word

[Lifers]

One of the bird species we still need on the show’s lists.

[death_eater]

These are the bird that build under bridges in Wisconsin

[travisinthetrunk]

It took me three times watching this clip before I realized that the narrator is Bill Pullman. I’m glad I did because that was gonna bug me all day.

[hellosweetheart]

1:24 🤗 grandparents trying to rest while teenagers run in and out all day

[Michael-]

I was honestly expecting that the cliff swallows would be making their nests out of buffalo dung.

[muntazirzia]

I was never into nature documentaries but this is pretty interesting