Female Tree Swallows are building their nests now and will be incubating eggs within two weeks, if weather conditions allow. Males share the feeding chores and sometimes help with incubating.
A pair of these fast-flying acrobats needs a daily diet of about 6,000 small insects – all caught in the air – to feed themselves and their four to seven fledglings. Extended periods of spring cold and rain (when small insects don’t fly) can have a devastating effect on the birds. Tree Swallows not only eat on the fly, they drink and bathe while skimming over still water. (Brooklin, Maine)