The Tree Swallows came back!

Last year I put up a cute birdhouse that I found at Target. I hung it out mostly for decoration in the yard, but I thought it would be great if a bird family actually used it as a home. I was excited when it was inhabited by a pair of tree swallows. I have tons of sparrows, juncos, finches and cardinals in the area, but this was the first time I saw tree swallows close by.

This year, I hoped the tree swallows would come back. This past Saturday morning I woke up and looked out and there they were! BUT, after watching them for a while I noticed that they were being surrounded by finches. We had a turf war going on. I saw a couple finches fly in and out of the house as the tree swallows perched on top. The swallows flew away at one point and I didn't see them the rest of the day. I thought they had been defeated and I was really bummed out.

Fortunately, I saw them back Monday morning and they are going in and out of the house with no finches surrounding them. I think they've officially moved back in and threw the finches things out on the lawn. :) While I love finches, I really wanted the tree swallows to stay around too.

I really do love migration and seeing old friends come back to the same place year after year. It amazes me how they can fly hundreds, if not thousands, of miles and find their way back to the same place.

I'd love to hear about the birds you have visiting your backyard. Do you have any special birdhouses or feeders to attract certain types of birds? Where do you live?

tree swallow