Tree Swallows pit themselves against each other like ace fighter pilots over who owns the nest box. PLEASE CLICK 'LIKE' IF YOU APPRECIATE THE MOVIE. Filmed at Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary near St. Louis, MO.
We've had 7 tree swallow boxes up since 1997. Average successful brood size is around 3. Max brood size has been as many as 5. I put 3 holes in the front of the box so that three young can get fed regularly, so that one young doesn't hog all the food and grow up earlier than the other young. The center hole is the entry and exit hole, the other two off to the sides is for the young. In the interior of the box I cut shallow grooves so that the young can climb and cling to the feeding holes. I customized the entry/exit hole to mimic the shape of the parent birds, with little wide spots about where the shoulders of the parent birds are. This allows the parents a quick entry. In the past we've had Coopers hawks try to take the parent birds as they were struggling in and out of the main entry hole. So from 2023 to 1997 is 26 years. Then 26 years X 7 boxes X 3 young = 546 young tree swallows back into the air to kill millions of flying and biting insects. Our tree swallows are hell on the mosquitos, gnats and black flies. Our outdoor experience is enhanced by their presence. I also clean the boxes every year and put the old nest with droppings into our compost box and then eventually into our garden. Two and three years ago the massive heat wave here killed many young, so sad.
Let me echo what Jan said. I was mighty impressed with the thought and effort you've put into your Tree Swallow housing. In fact, I'm going to pin your comment so that it will stay at the top in hopes that somebody else will read it and decide to copy what you've been doing.
One more observation, Andrew: a couple of years ago I did a movie about Eastern bluebird houses, and I talked about the heat wave issue. You can rig sun shields for car windows over bird houses to alleviate some of the sweltering heat.
You have such a mastery of metaphor, which makes your writing so captivating and beautiful. Thank you for taking the time to put these videos together.
More reason for me to put boxes on my property! I have 5 acres plenty of room to put them out and far enough away from each other that they won't interfere with each other. I've always wanted to do it, now I'm determined to! Thank you Ms.Jo!❤❤
I’m glad to hear that the action didn’t simply overwhelm you, Pamela. That was my biggest concern in making this movie: TOO MUCH action. I feared viewers would get tired of having their eyeballs ricocheting around. Thanks for letting me know that it wasn’t a problem for you.
@@pamelakern2849 my pleasure, family. I can get so engrossed in editing the film that I put off getting up to go to the bathroom - until I have no choice about that. 😏
Dear Ms. Jo! I was thinking about you today! I was like: “It’s been three weeks. I hope she’s doing well!” And, here you are! Yay! I’m gonna drive home now, I’ll watch this when I get there! Such lovely Birds!! Stay blessed and healthy, dear friend!
@@JoAlwoodBIRDSANDTHENSOME Beautiful Ms. Jo, I came to ask you if you have a video link of yours than you can share, on best (or good) Bird feeders, and Bird seeds, and saw this comment. Aww! Thank you! I keep buying cute Bird Feeders that turn out to be useless. I really want a good (beautiful but bullies) Starlings-Grackles “proof” one.
I’ve never seen these beautiful birds around where I live. I have four bluebird nest boxes around my property and I would be honored if at least one moved in. Thank you for introducing me to these wonderful creatures.
Do you maybe live in the Southwest? The range map doesn't show them being there very much. Anyway, I hope you get them nesting one of these days. The bluebirds are beautiful, of course, but the acrobatic skills of the Tree Swallows provides a whole 'nother level of entertainment. I've been curious and meaning to ask you. How did you happen to decide to use a picture of a Snowy Owl to go with your screen name?
I live in central California in the foothills a few miles away from the entrance to Sequoia Park. The range map shows my area to be right on the border of their range so now I’ve been looking out for them but no luck yet. We do have the Cliff Swallows which I love to watch zipping across the early evening sky as they feed on insects. As for the Snowy Owl I’ve never seen one out in the wild but I just love everything about them so when I was going through pictures of birds I really liked that picture. I’ve been thinking of changing it to either the Acorn Woodpecker or the Hooded Oriole which just returned to my area last week. It’s a happy day for me when they return, they will stay from April through September. Thank you for your informative channel and like I’ve said before I just love listening to your voice. 😊
I got interrupted while I was writing you yesterday and had to send my comment before I was finished. What I'd like to add is that I'd choose the Acorn Woodpecker before the Snowy Owl. The Acorn's striking, clownish face just grabs me--especially since their acorn gathering habits intrigue me. Not that the Snowy isn't a beauty. And all owls stare so unblinking that they seem to look into your soul.
Hi, Letty. Well, I have to drive twenty minutes every time I film them. We live in the suburbs, and they're rural. Still, it was worth the effort. What a trip they are!
Me too. What I mean is that I do research for every movie and learn a lot from it. Fun, right? Have I mentioned to you before - I say this because of your screen name - that I did a couple of movies about the importance of putting in native plants?
Thank you, Karen. I’ve never thought of myself as a lyrical writer but perhaps you’re right. I certainly do get into describing swallow flight, don’t I?
Thank you for your videos, they are enjoyable. I have 15 nesting boxes surrounding the farm. I add 5 more every year and they are always full. I intend to have an army of tree swallows to combat the insects. Again great videos
THANK YOU, MR. ROCKY! Thanks not only for the compliment but for putting up all those nest boxes. The next movie I post (June 28th) will be about swallow flight, and it's got some of this fight footage in super slomo. Only that way can you see how violent some of their squabbles are.
@@JoAlwoodBIRDSANDTHENSOME Interestingly this past week I have noticed that a pair of cliff swallows has moved into an old barn swallow nest. Thats 3 types of swallows on the farm. Any tips on how to attract more of the cliff swallows. I haven't seem any here before> Thank you Matt
@@MrRocky1996 what a surprise! The Cliffs are colonial nesters and they build a different sort of nest from those that Barn swallows make. So that would be the last thing I would expect you to have happen. I don’t know what else to say. Make sure there are plenty of bugs around - like you have any control over that.
Love to hear from a new subscriber! And tomorrow I'm posting a video about the hawk eyes of swallows. Stay tuned. Thanks for the compliment and thanks for commenting.
Awesome video!! We had a group around our back yard this year. I was surprised because I’d never seen them here before. We do have a wooden bird house on our high fence. I don’t know if they nested in it. We have no windows at the back of our home and it was still too cold to sit out where I could watch it. I hope to put up more houses. Thanks for an informative video with clever voiceover.
I'm glad you liked the video, and I'm glad to hear you plan to put up more boxes! Believe me, they'll get used. And those Tree Swallows are too entertaining. (Maybe the new houses could be put up where you might see them from your windows.) AND you might get bluebirds, which are also beautiful and entertaining.
@@JoAlwoodBIRDSANDTHENSOME I wish we could see bluebirds here but as far as I know we don’t have them on this Island. I saw and photographed them when I lived in Southern Alberta. They are so beautiful! I think they’re Western Bluebirds.
Yes, it occurred to me that whether you’d get bluebirds would depend on where you live. We don’t get them here either. Other parts of the St. Louis metro area get them, but not our area. But at least you can get tree swallows. Our setting is too suburban for that. So enjoy!
Thanks for letting me know you liked the video. Brief though it was, I appreciate it because RU-vid bases, whether or not to promote a movie in part on how many comments it gets. And I would like to see this movie promoted because those tree swallows are amazing.
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