There's No Place Like Home - A Tree Swallow Story

Learn about the Tree Swallows that call the nest boxes at Ballona "home". Brought to you by Friends of Ballona Wetlands.

[@camnature1147]

It is wonderful, Friends of Ballona Wetlands. It is great to see the Tree Swallow home. Very nice video. Stay Connected, friend. Best Regards.

[@tonnyosano18]

This is just so amaizing, good job, they travel once a year to my village in Lambwe valley Homabay county Kenya. I love watching them.

[@BallonaFriends]

Thank you for sharing! We agree these types of birds are amazing to watch both in flight and as they build their home to grow a family. While the Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) of our video are migratory, you are likely seeing a different species of bird that is in the same family (Hirundinidae). Our best guess is you are seeing the Common House Martin (Delichon urbicum) as eBird shows plenty of sightings in the area you describe. Happy bird watching!

[@sting1111]

Greetings from Ohio. Eggs in the box! Amazing birds.

[@coldspring624]

Hands down the most enjoyable birds to have in my nest box

[@Fortheloveofbirds2020]

Amazing video, loved watching.

[@starlynhoward7068]

great video

[@gregsmith3410]

Your lucky no house sparrow competition..

[@annereynolds66]

We successfully had swallows fledge but the house sparrows were bulling some towards the end , am afraid they won’t come back now

[@lynnbossone6763]

Fabulous video, Neysa. I just shared it on Facebook and with a slew of close friends.

[@2Times22]

My fav birds..Lots of times sparrows take over the swallow nests..I ve seen it..I dont like that..Sparrows are derelicts..

[@Zakumi1971]

I had a couple of this beautiful bird but other birds killed them and make a new nest for different birds, I was crying a lot because I haven't idea how to protect them from depredators.

[@BallonaFriends]

We are so sorry to hear that. There are predator guards you can add to a swallow box pole to help protect them from predators that might climb up. Keeping vegetation trimmed back can also help prevent predators from jumping onto the box. You can find out more information about how to protect swallow boxes here: nestwatch.org/connect/blog/predator-guards-carry-their-weight/

[@annereynolds66]

So sorry , it’s really upsetting that those kind of things happen to vulnerable birds . Do you know if house sparrows tried to move in ? Like said above predictor guards and making sure the box is at least 10 feet I think they say , from trees

[@darrennewberry1356]

I live in the southeast. Tree swallows were first to my box that bluebirds used last year. So I put up a second box and now have both types of birds. Are tree swallows very territorial to their own species. Bluebirds are but seem to tolerate another species.

[@BallonaFriends]

They can be territorial of their boxes, yes, it's best if the boxes are at least 35 feet apart. We follow the nest boxes recommendations here: nestwatch.org/learn/all-about-birdhouses/birds/tree-swallow/

[@notsohandytim5090]

You are very lucky having these wide open spaces near water, an environment that does not appeal to House Sparrows. 🤨

[@cocoa671]

In the fall do you take the nest out and they build a new one the following spring, summer?

[@BallonaFriends]

We do empty the boxes at the end of the season to complete our monitoring and maintenance for the season and then new nests are built the following spring.

[@M00Nature]

I wondered about the ants I saw climbing on the tree swallow nest boxes in your video. I've been having a bad time with ants taking over my tree swallow boxes in Connecticut. The ants bring their eggs/larvae into the nesting material and start crawling on the nestlings. Have you had a problem with ants, and if so, what do you do about them if anything?

[@BallonaFriends]

We recommend you try Tanglefoot insect barrier or something similar. You can apply it around the pole to stop ants from crawling up. It's a non-toxic sticky goo or tape.

[@marissaawesome2422]

Just lost 2 nest from snakes

[@aah_my_handle]

Are house martins and tree swallows the same thing? Cos they look like house martins to me

[@BallonaFriends]

This is a great question as they do look similar and have similar hunting flight. The Common House Martin (Delichon urbicum) and the Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) are both migratory birds of the family Hirundinidae. The Tree Swallow of this video are found in the Americas and the Common House Martin is found throughout Europe, Africa and Asia.

[@rpgconstruction1877]

Do recommend removing the nest each year so they can rebuild it the next year? Or leave it?

[@BallonaFriends]

We recommend removing the old nest outside of nesting season, when swallows are not present. With an empty box they may be more likely to use it the next season. DO NOT remove during nesting season as they may use it more than once in a nesting season.

[@annereynolds66]

@@BallonaFriends do you recommend not removing the nest if it has a bad odor ? Obviously after they fledge . I did read that even after fledging that they still use the box for several weeks . We had house sparrows bothering ours so I don’t know if they decided to leave because of that however we did see a few of the fledging for at least a week with mom and dad .

[@BallonaFriends]

It is likely best to err on the side of caution and have a few weeks of no bird activity before going through to clean it out.

[@terrykyte1845]

the audio is terrible