Return of the Swallows
A male Violet-green swallow surveys the neighborhood
Each year in the month of March the Violet-green Swallows return to the Pacific Northwest. At first, one or two male scouts appear, checking out the neighborhood before the rest of the birds arrive by early April. Like the swallows, I have recently made my return to the Seattle area, after COVID-19 disrupted my plans for my book tour, speaking appearances, and bird guiding trips this Spring. Staying at home with my dad has provided me with plenty of time to study the birds from my backyard, and provided some quality family time together. I hope you all are also staying at home and are happy and healthy.
One of the males forages for insects near the pond
After the swallows showed up, I cleaned and hung my swallow nest box under the eaves of the house, hoping they would move in. Less than three days later, a pair perched regularly sat on the box and started to defend their territory—chasing away a growing numbers of rivals in the following days. On warm days, the birds were active in and around the house, but in overcast weather all swallows mysteriously disappeared from the neighborhood all day. I’m still wondering if they go torpid and roost in the trees, or simply forage closer to the water? If you have any insights, I’d love to hear them!
A female Violet-green Swallow checks out the opening to the swallow nest box I hung under the eaves
After almost three weeks of on and off activity around the nest box, the activity dropped off. The birds still perched on the gutters and fed over the hillside in front of my house, but were checking out other spots as well that were more difficult to observe due to the terrain of my front yard. I wondered each day if they would begin nesting? I didn’t know the exact chronology as this is the first spring I have spent in Seattle in over 15 years!
Of all the swallows in North America, scientists know less about the Violet-green swallow than many of the others, which is surprising given their wide range across the coniferous montane West. Their eastern cousin the Tree Swallow is much more easily studied given their preference to nest in bird boxes. Violet-greens typically choose tree cavities and old woodpecker holes, which make access by researchers more difficult.
I wondered if maybe the swallows were being slowed down in their breeding cycle by a shortage of nesting material—namely feathers. Growing up, the Violet-green swallow pair that nested at my grandparent’s beach cabin had an endless array of feathers to pluck from the high-tide line along the beach, but I live a quarter mile from the nearest water, and hadn’t seen any swallows carrying feathers yet. So I decided to kick-start the nesting process by offering feathers to the neighborhood swallows and see if they took them. Many backyard bird enthusiasts offer seed, clean water, as well as hair clippings, dryer lint, and pet fur as nesting material. It surely couldn’t hurt to provide the swallows with some feathers to make their nests. They either would accept my gifts, or let them blow away on the wind.
The male calls to the female as the feather is exchanged
A male (right) and female (left) Violet-green Swallow get into a dispute after a feather is taken by a third swallow out of the frame
With a bag full of feathers I had salvaged from a goose carcass, I went out into the street and tossed a single body feather up into the breeze. It had drifted away only a moment before being snatched from the sky by an eager swallow. As the bird flew off with its prize, eager competitors gave pursuit, calling and chasing the lucky bird high into the sky. Within minutes, a swirling flock of swallows had assembled overhead, and the females began to snag the feathers right out of the air, practically taking them from my fingertips.
I spent hours watching the swallows. The females were primarily the ones gathering the feathers, but the males would pursue and call to them before both birds would climb high into the sky and tumble together as the feather was exchanged. While both sexes would go to the nest cavity, the female would linger and began building her nest. Sadly for me, the six pairs of neighborhood swallows seemed to select nest sites under the eaves of neighbor’s homes, leaving my box seemingly vacant for the year. (Insert sad emoji)
Two swallows chase the lucky feather-carrier
This female landed in the road to take this feather
The swallow swarm soon got the attention of the neighbors, who came out with their kids to see what I was throwing into the air. Taking advantage of this teachable moment, I explained the nesting behavior of the birds and gave the kids feathers to throw to the swallows. The swallows certainly knew the drill by this time and the look of joy and wonder on the children’s faces was priceless. I wish I captured photos of their faces when the swallows rocketed past their heads, their bangs blowing gently from the wind generated by the passing birds. The moment was fleeting, but I had hundreds of feathers and let them throw as many feathers into the air as they wanted to.
Many feathers were not snatched from the sky, as it took the swallows between two to five minutes to carry the feather to their nest site, place it in the cavity, and return. Those that fell in the street blew around when the occasional car passed, and the swallows attempted to take the feather in flight from the pavement. At one point one male swallow landed nest to the feather and clumsily chased it on foot.
As the morning turned to afternoon their interest in the feathers waned and they flew higher in the sky and fed with enthusiasm on flying insects above the trees. It was time to wrap up, and try again tomorrow. I left a few dozen feathers scattered on the lawn in case they returned to nest-building in the evening.
Photographing swallows in fight is not for the faint of heart. They are constantly in motion, unpredictable and fast, and a difficult target for even the most advance autofocus systems. Violet-green swallows in particular have a flight style where they flap rapidly as they climb, then close their wings and dip down before making an erratic powered pursuit after flying insects.
A female swallow heads directly for me as I lay on my belly to take this photo of the feather pickup.
This shot was captured at 1/5000 of a second, f 8.0 with focus set on the feather. The frame before and after are both out of focus
Although the lighting and angle isn’t perfect, this comes close to the image I’ve been trying to capture
I shot hundreds of frames for the next hour, but didn’t quite nail the shots I had in mind, although the above image of a swallow grabbing a feather from mid-air comes close. I did come up with a few interesting captures as the swallows grabbed feathers that had landed in the road. That’s the fun and challenge of digital bird photography!
Next up: shooting 4K video!
Thanks for following along with my backyard birding adventure. I shared a glimpse of this on Facebook live, and will do it again soon. Be sure to follow The Birding Project for more bird content!
About
Christian Hagenlocher is a bird guide, teacher, photographer, and writer from Colorado. He is currently staying-at-home in Seattle where he plans on living someday. His book Falcon Freeway: A Big Year of Birding on a Budget details his record-breaking 2016 Big Year, and is now available on Amazon. Signed copies are for sale on The Birding Project’s website. If you’re looking for a great book to read at home, order a signed copy today and support Christian!
