Making A 'Down' Payment

Day 212: A couple of Tree Swallows were seen today making a "down" payment on their new home. This pair selected the house with the natural entryway, a Swallow-sized knothole set to one side and slightly angled.

When I purchased the lumber to buid these houses, I somehow overlooked the hole. Later as I was sawing boards to length, I was going to cut off and discard this piece until I measured the hole. It was 1.25" in diameter, the exact size preferred by this species. "What the heck," I said to myself, "the worst that can happen is that I have to replace it with a different front." The nesting box with the natural entrance has proved to be the secondmost favored of the rental units, the primary choice being the one with the northern exposure.

Swallows' nesting material consists of leaves and other plant fibers, all sorts of feathers and grass, cemented together with a sticky salivary secretion. The nest will be lined with down for softness. The parents will raise a single brood of four or five chicks and may return to the same site in subsequent years.