Tree Swallow

Tree Swallow posing for a portrait!

I stand on the deck with a feather in my hand, and at just the right time, I toss one up, and a Tree Swallow comes swooping down and catches it in her beak right before my eyes, and off to the nest she goes with it!  Sometimes, they let it go in mid air and catch it again.  I read somewhere that they do that to dry the feather before taking it back to the nest, and sometimes, they are just playing with it.

This little beauty is waiting on the ''fly through'' perch for a feather to take back to the nesting site.  The Tree Swallows will use the feathers and dry grasses to keep the nestlings warm and dry.

Do you remember seeing my Tree Swallows post last year?  You can revisit them here

Feathers For Our Feathered Friends

Our Pekin duck and chicken feathers are in high demand these days........ They are plentiful and free for the taking!!

 

This adorable male Tree Swallow was playing with this feather before going to the nest box with it.... Clean, loose feathers are important for Tree Swallows. They line their nests with them, lots of them....It keeps the babies comfortable and dry.

They are everywhere... I found this feather hanging onto a dandelion.... The first thing in the morning when the ducks and chickens emerge from their house, is the best time to capture this spectacle!!  The Tree Swallows are not far; look up, and you will see them swooping and gliding everywhere.... In the meantime, they are in search of a freshly preened feather from down below.... don't blink if you want to witness the take, because they are fast!!

There he goes!!  As you can see, there are a few more feathers close by, but they won't be there for long....

The male Tree Swallow was having a little bit of a problem getting this feather in the nesting box.... He was trying so hard.... I looked closer and noticed that the hollow shaft, also known as calamus (the pointed end pictured just above his head) was too long to fit in the nesting hole.  I waited until he eventually dropped the feather.  I assisted by snipping the calamus off.  Then, I tossed the feather into the wind and a few seconds later, he caught it in mid-air!!

And there he goes with it to the nest... !! Oh, you're welcome, glad to help out (wink, wink)

We have been watching the Tree Swallows collect many of these naturally shed feathers and take them to their nest over the past two weeks.  Here's a peek when they arrived.

The female and male both work very hard in the nest making process....

Rise and shine.....

Say hi to Squirt....she is happy, along with all of the other Pekin ducks to contribute her soft downy feathers to the nesting Tree Swallows!!

Our Tree Swallows are Back !!

Our tree swallows arrived a couple of weeks ago and there are lots of them....they are so amazing and fun to watch!!  They fly so fast and are darting everywhere....They perform awesome acrobatics while chasing after flying insects...

This male tree swallow is stretching.  He has been sitting on this branch for a few minutes keeping a close eye on his female.

We have a breeding pair nesting in the box again this year....When the female is producing her eggs, she needs extra calcium, so we offer some crushed egg shells for them to eat.  We raise laying chickens, so there are plenty of eggs!! And, our pekin ducks help out too....When the tree swallow prepares the nest, they are looking for soft bedding and one of the supplies they seek are freshly preened feathers.

Here is the very dedicated female looking quite comfortable and ready to lay her eggs!! If you want to read some interesting facts about the tree swallow or see some more images of them, stop by over here and check them out!!

Tree Swallows

The male and female look a lot alike except the female may be a little more greenish

We have been observing this pair of Tree Swallows since they arrived!! They are using the  birdhouse right beside our bedroom window !!  They didn't have too far to go to get their materials.  We watched them go back and forth to the chicken/duck houses gathering hay and feathers.  They also found time to play. They were dropping the feathers and re-catching them in flight!  The nest is complete now and courting begins!!

Mating Tree Swallows

 

We are going to have babies !!!!!!!!

Incubation: lasts 14 - 15 days.  It starts the day next to the last egg that is laid.  The female often sticks her head out of the hole and looks like a little orca.

(Like in this photo of her below)

She is so adorable.. I think she saw her reflection in my lens !! (click photos to enlarge <3)

I have learned that: adult Tree Swallows consume 2000 insects and feed 6000 insects to their young over a 45 day nesting period. That means that each nestbox family consumes more than 300,000 insects.  WOW!! That's a lot of flies and here in the back country,  I say ''welcome little feathered friends"

We expect the babies to hatch the week of the 24th.. Hopefully, we can capture some mealtime photos and share them with you!!

 Quote:::: It is almost as if they live to fly, rather than, as most birds, fly to live.
- Robert R. Cohen, Sialia, 1984