110 David S. Lee 



here (see Bonwil and Owens 1939, Mansuetti 1950, Lee 1988, and 

 Lee et al. 1982). 



Similar Range Expansion of Other Species of Swallows — The 

 relatively rapid range expansion parallels the changing distribution of 

 other swallows in the Southeast. The barn swallow's (Hirundo rustica) 

 breeding range was largely to the north of North Carolina before 

 1942 (Pearson et al. 1942), but it bred locally in the mountains in 

 the northwestern corner of the state and along the coast. The range 

 expansion in the state was undocumented. By 1975 the species was 

 colonizing the outer Coastal Plain in southeastern North Carolina, and 

 today it occurs statewide (personal observation). Although they nest 

 in barns and under docks, the main factor allowing dispersal seems 

 to be the replacement of wooden bridges with concrete ones through- 

 out the state (1960s-70s); the swallows use the concrete bridges for 

 nest substrate. 



At the beginning of this century cliff swallows (Hirundo 

 pyrrhonota) were only transients in North Carolina. In 1967 they 

 were reported nesting in the state, and by 1983 they had expanded 

 their range in the Piedmont to Greensboro, Guilford County (Hen- 

 drickson 1984). They had previously been reported nesting at other 

 Piedmont sites, all around reservoirs (Lake Cammack, Hyco Reservoir, 

 McGehee's Mill, and Jordan Lake). They also nest at Falls Lake, 

 Wake County (NCSM records, 1989). Like tree swallows, this species 

 did not simply expand its range from north to south or from the 

 west to the east as one might expect. They colonized scattered sites 

 in the Piedmont and later colonized suitable adjacent sites. McConnell 

 (1981) first reported nesting in the Mountains of North Carolina and 

 noted a preference for reservoir dams as nesting sites. This range 

 expansion, which started in the mid-1960s, also includes the Piedmont 

 regions of Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia, and in southcentral 

 Florida (summary in Grant and Quay 1977). 



Platania and Clark (1981) discuss the 1960-80 range expansion 

 of northern rough-winged swallows (Stelgidopteryx ruficollis) in the 

 North Carolina Coastal Plain and mapped the known breeding distri- 

 bution of the species in the state. They also reported nesting season 

 records of bank swallows (Riparia riparid) from Roanoke Island, Dare 

 County, but a colony apparently never formed there. Bank swallows 

 have nested sporadically in North Carolina. Earlier records were avail- 

 able from 1926 to 1940 in Henderson County (Nicholson 1951, Pickens 

 1954). Snavely (1978) reported a colony in Wilkes County that was 

 present from 1977 to 1978. This was the first recent nesting record 

 for the state, but the colony has since died out. Subsequently, Lee 

 and Hendrickson (personal observations) found a nesting colony near 



