barn swallows

 

Barn Swallows hunt over the pond, where they catch flying insects mid-air. To do this efficiently, they fly with their wide beaks open.  

This pair found a good amount of food here, and decided to make their nest nearby. They gathered mud from the shore to paste pieces of grasses to a vertical surface in a barn, outbuilding, or nearby structure.

When their eggs hatch, the pond area will be a resource for mosquitoes and other flying insects to feed to their chicks.

phoebes

Phoebes, in the flycatcher family, arrived on the pond this week.  They went to their favorite 'jumping off place' to watch for and catch flying prey just above the water.  We watched them last summer -- every day sitting on the concrete outflow weir.  Each would fly down to the water, gobble the airborne insect, and take it to their nest where hatchlings waited for food.  I hope they nest here again this season!
 

tree swallow, first of 2021

Migration brings something new each day!  We saw several Tree Swallows, actively aerial hunting over the pond for any flying insects they could eat.  One checked out the nestbox where a pair raised a clutch of eggs successfully last year.  They moved on, but the box is ready in nesting season for Bluebirds or Tree Swallows making their way here.

out of the nest box

When young songbirds are grown enough to leave the nest, it may be an hours-long process for the parents and the young.

We've been watching the Tree Swallows Tachycineta bicolor for four days, thinking it would happen soon.

This afternoon the parents started flying at the nest box without any food items, teasing the young birds to come out of the nest.  Finally, they did.  It is amazing to see a creature take its first flight.

This little Tree Swallow is leaping out into air for the first time, nose down and spreading his wings with new strong feathers to fly with the big guys.  But he flopped to the ground, flapped his wings a few times, then took off again successfully.

Now, the parents will teach the young birds to hunt for insects on their own. We may see them flying together over the pond.

eggs

Each day, Tree Swallows fly above the pond looking like they are doing aerial acrobats for our amazement.  In reality, they are eating -- feeding on flying insects.  So adept in the air, they eat and drink while flying, and rarely spend any time on the ground.  Unlike other swallows, they nest in old woodpecker cavities or human-built boxes. A pair settled in the bluebird box near the pond and started their clutch of eggs.  Each is less than an inch long, white, and oval.  The female places shed feathers from herself and other birds in the nest grass to hide the eggs until she is is ready to incubate them all.

swallows

There are two kinds of swallows that regularly hang out near our pond.  Both species are aerial insectivores, which means they are so agile they can eat and drink all they need while flying.  They “swallow" food with their mouth open as they soar through a group of flying insects.  They dip their beaks to sip water as they glide low over a pond or lake.  They eat mosquitoes, flies, grasshoppers, beetles, moths and other flying insects in mid air.  Small birds with long wings, they can make sharp turns at high speeds in order to catch hundreds of insects each day. Swallows are most often a welcome sight with their voracious appetite for flying insects – a good mosquito control method.

Tree Swallows Tachycineta bicolor are iridescent blue with a white front and underparts  nest in cavities . . .  old woodpecker holes or a nestbox like Bluebirds.

The Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica has a deeply forked tail, dark feathers and rust colored throat and  under parts.  This 6" long bird lives in farmlands, suburbs, and wetlands. Because they make nests of mud in barns, on ledges, or under eaves, the location of their nests sometimes make them a pest.
Photo below: Barn Swallow