There are currently two Tree Swallow nests with eggs soon to hatch. These impressive acrobatic flyers may buzz you as you pass near their nesting sites. So far, they have never hit me, even as I check their nests and watch them fly straight toward me. They often will call in reinforcements and I am then surrounded by fast, furious flyers with snapping bills and chattering alarm calls.
Their softer side is revealed in the exquisite nests which they construct, using feathers plucked from wherever they happen to find them. Take a peek inside.
Tree Swallows use dried grasses to construct a nest, sometimes a very shallow nest, which they then line with soft feathers. Some people will throw feathers from a pillow into the air near nest-building Tree Swallows and watch as the birds pluck the feathers out of the air. It is rumored to be quite the spectacle. The feathers in this box have come from the Tree Swallow's environment; I prefer to see what they find rather than provide them with feathers.
Two Tree Swallows which I banded last year have returned to nest in the park. One chose the very same box in which she nested last year. The other one arrived after the bluebirds had already claimed the box she had used last year. This year the bluebirds got an earlier start on nesting than did the Tree Swallows.
No comments:
Post a Comment