Welcome back, Spring!

The clocks have gone forward. The red-winged blackbirds are practicing their “conk-la-ree!” calls in the backyard. Spring is coming, friends, and spring means birds, and lots of them.

A cheeky looking tree swallow atop a nest box. All photos copyright Lorraine Freeney

 With spring come the warm weather residents, like great egrets, snowy egrets, and—a personal favorite—tree swallows. Last week we cleaned out the tree swallow nest boxes in Lincoln Park West in preparation for their arrival, and we’ll clean out the ones in Caven Point this week. A successful nest is full of poop and other debris, and will not be reused the following year (though sometimes birds will build a new nest on top of an old nest, but that’s not a good idea in the limited confines of a nest box). Of the eight we cleaned out last week, all had been occupied at some point last breeding season. Five looked to have been successful in fledging chicks. Two of the nests had unhatched eggs. One nest had the remnants of dead swallow chicks. The unsuccessful ones are always a little heartbreaking, but five successful nests out of eight is a pretty good ratio.

Lincoln Park West

Nests fail for many different reasons. Tree swallows mostly feed on insects, catching them in flight, and long periods of heavy rain when they can’t do that—like we had early last summer—can be life-threatening for them. Other times, nests fail because they’re in areas that are too exposed and open to disturbance, either by people or mowing equipment or both. If people disturb the nests, especially during incubation or when the nestlings are present, the adults may abandon them. Every year, we see signs that people have interfered with nest boxes, forced them open, or damaged them in other ways. Human curiosity is natural but interfering with the boxes can be disastrous. We’ll make some adjustments this spring, make some of the boxes a little less accessible, and we also aim to get some signs up asking people to respect the tree swallows and leave boxes alone.

Adult feeding a hungry chick

It’s a tricky balance. Part of the goal of this project, aside from providing nesting habitat, is to allow the community to see tree swallows going about their business of nest box selection, courtship, nest building, incubating eggs, caring for their young ones. Tree swallows are gregarious birds and not shy of humans, which makes them a great entry point for kids (and adults) getting interested in nature and birding. It’s such an amazing sight to witness tree swallows darting around, claiming their boxes, vying for the best locations, chattering in their lovely melodious way. The adorable grumpy faces of the chicks, peeking their heads out of the nest box—it’s a gorgeous sight. That accessibility has to be tempered with ensuring the birds’ safety as much as possible.    

Tree swallow chicks

Thanks once again to Bergen County Audubon Society who provided the original nest boxes we installed in Lincoln Park West in 2021, and to Jersey City Birds donors who helped fund the boxes we added last year in LPW and in Caven Point. Also thanks to Skyway Golf Course and to everyone who helps to maintain these boxes. Let’s keep helping these beautiful birds.