Expert: Roger Lederer - 6/1/2007

Question
Thank you for taking the time to read my question.  The other day when my daughter and granddaughter were leaving the house,  a couple of birds "swooped" at them,  not too aggressively.  I thought then they must have built a nest in one of the gutters.   I continued to occasionally be aware of a bird flying toward our porch but didn't pay any attention to what it was doing.  Well, yesterday I saw the nest and it is built of mud and straw (the three little pigs??) and is built AGAINST the brick of the house.  I have NO knowledge of types of birds but had not seen this before so I paid attention so I could see the bird.  There are always two of them.  They are smaller than a robin and bigger than a bluebird (probably the only two birds I can safely identify).  They are a deep gray with a pale colored chest that I can only describe as a robin's breast that faded very badly.  Does this sound at all familiar?  I'm afraid I'm not good at descriptions but I would love to know what these birds are.
Thank you so much
Jane


Answer
Well, the best I can tell from your description, which is very general , and the fact that I do not know where in the world you live (I'm guessing the U.S. somewhere), I suspect they might be Barn Swallows or Cliff Swallows. With a better description and location, I might be able to guess better. Roger Lederer at Ornithology.com