Life inside a nest box for18 day old Tree Swallow nestlings almost ready to fledge.

This clip shows how hectic life inside a nest box can be for young Tree Swallows the day before these active birds fledge.
Video from Francois Paquette of QC. Edited by Chris Gates of NY.
For more on tree swallow nestlings near fledging see:
treeswallowprojects.com/cfledge.html

[@jameslomenzo1139]

a 9 inch plastic gourd really works great.

[@annereynolds66]

Also , I just got a proper box with more space at the floor than the standard blue box size .

[@kimp.dr.n2652]

yeh, Id be frantic too if I had a fecal sac in my mouth and no way out. lol

[@Xtammy5800]

Do they fledge in the morning?

[@annereynolds66]

David , how long did your fledglings keep coming back after their first flight out ? I read that they can use the box for several weeks after . Ours maybe stayed a week , they were being harassed by sparrows

[@annereynolds66]

Anyone have any thoughts on the boxes that are shown with two smaller holes next to the 11/2 hole for the adults ?

[@MunchkinMoD]

Hello, thanks for video. I know this is from 7 years ago but hopefully you will answer. What size bottom would you recommend for both eastern bluebirds and tree swallows? I’m needing some new nest boxes and in need of some help and advice. Thanks

[@M00Nature]

I've been using a 4 x 5 inch floor on some of my homemade boxes. The birds seem to prefer this to the 4 x 4 or 4 x 4.5 inch floors. I think the author of this video suggests 5 x 5 inch is best for tree swallows. Since I have both tree swallows and bluebirds in my boxes, I compromised with the 4 x 5 inch floor. I use a 5-inch peat pot inside the box (birds make their nest in the pot) so that it's easier to see the nestlings and re-nest them if an ant invasion occurs in the box. The 5-inch peat pot fits snuggly in the 4 x 5 inch box so that the young do not get trapped between wall of box and the peat pot. You can recycle it after fledge time.