Althouse: The tree swallow in the Biocore Prairie.

May 28, 2024

The tree swallow in the Biocore Prairie.

And here's Meade's photo of me getting the picture. Do you see the bird?

12 comments:

MadisonMan said...: Do you mean bird as slang for woman?; 5/28/24, 2:32 PM
Narr said...: A finger-width to the right of the tree.; 5/28/24, 2:38 PM
Quaestor said...: Yes. These guys like to hunt close to the ground. The higher the insects fly, the competition for a snack increases.; 5/28/24, 2:50 PM
Clyde said...: Pretty bird. We don't have those in Florida. I went on a nature walk this morning and saw a bunch of swallow-tailed kites, though.; 5/28/24, 4:14 PM
Kathryn51 said...: Mr. Kathryn51 saved three tiny baby birds yesterday- apparently they and their nest were knocked out of a tree. It's unlikely they will survive,, but 24 hours later, they are still hanging in there.

In a box.

In MY kitchen.; 5/28/24, 4:23 PM
walter said...: Looks painted.; 5/28/24, 4:26 PM
Leland said...: Focus, Meade, focus.; 5/28/24, 6:13 PM
mongo said...: Interesting. They look nothing at all like the birds we call tree swallows in Maryland.; 5/28/24, 6:53 PM
mongo said...: It’s fun to watch them on the golf course. When we have to walk through the rough on the way to our balls, we apparently stir up the grass and expose bugs. The birds swoop around perpendicular to our path, behind us, and chow down.; 5/28/24, 6:57 PM
Tachycineta said...: Great pic of a male.

And yowza! That is a long wing. I bet that wing chord is 121-124mm as the crow files.

In these parts, Tree Swallows are having clutches that are already starting to hatch. Early by about a 5-6 days. Will know more over the next 3-6 days.

Today was a good day as it was windy and a feather blew out of the nest box. Before the feather hit the ground a Tree Swallow plucked it out of the air and then proceeded to drop it and then another Tree Swallow plucked it out of the air. It's probably not play like we think of play, but more akin to competition between males. Once eggs hatch, Tree Swallow will not pluck feathers out of the air - it's all about nestkling feeding and care.

I replaced the blown away feather with a feather nearby on the ground.; 5/28/24, 7:55 PM
Breezy said...: Gosh, I’ve never had one sit still for me. Very nice!; 5/28/24, 8:15 PM
Narr said...: Those robins who built a nest on the crook of a downspout had little ones--two I think. The parents spent a few days building the nest, and we saw babies for a few days, but then they were gone, both big and small.

I don't see any evidence of foul play or predation and I guess it's a measure of my ignorance of birds that I expected them to live there for a while. Do robins (and other breeds) just build for the youngsters and abandon the nests entirely when the chicks leave?

We are seeing quite a few cardinals, including some males (maybe only one) with deep red, almost purple bodies, but I can't tell where they nest.; 5/28/24, 8:22 PM