Tree Swallow

Photo by Myrna Pearman

Get to Know

Tree Swallows are energetic and familiar backyard songbirds. As a secondary cavity-nesting species , they are readily attracted to bird houses in both rural and urban backyards. People throughout North America encourage these delightful and chatty birds to nest in yards and gardens by setting out nestboxes for them.

Like all swallows, Tree Swallows are slender with streamlined bodies, short necks, very short legs and tiny feet. Their long pointed wings enable them to fly with amazing agility. They have small bills but, like most birds that catch insects while in flight, their mouths can open surprisingly wide.

Adult male and older female Tree Swallows can be easily identified by their iridescent blue-green backs and white bellies. Yearling females are brownish.

Distribution

Tree Swallows are found throughout Alberta and breed throughout central and northern North America. They spend their winter in Florida, along the Gulf of Mexico and south to the Caribbean and Central America. Tree Swallows winter farther north than any other American swallow species, and they return to their nesting grounds in mid-April, long before other swallows come back. Most Tree Swallows leave for their wintering grounds by mid-August.

Habitat and Habits

Tree Swallows prefer to nest in mature woodlands where they can find nesting cavities. While they will nest in a variety of locations, they do prefer to take up residences near ponds, rivers and lakes where flying insects are abundant. Because they can switch their diet to berries when insects aren