More than Bluebirds use Bluebird Boxes

During the winter I built four Blue Bird boxes and placed them about my home. Having read that Bluebirds are territorial I was well aware that I was placing them much too close together but I didn’t care as other species would possibly use them.

Currently three of the four boxes are occupied and none by Bluebirds. A pair of Tree Swallows was the first to claim a box. Sunday afternoon I set up the camera with the 100-400mm, tripod and flash near the nest. Soon the pair began doing flybys and after a few minutes the female perched momentarily.

After a few more passes she returned and perched allowing me a few minutes of photography before disappearing into the box. I’m pleased to have attracted these beautiful acrobatic speedsters to my home for not only are they quite pretty but they also consume vast quantities of flying insects.

These birds fly over our rear deck frequently in the evenings and I was surprised to see male carpenter bees chase them for a short distance. The swallow’s flight is much faster than that of the carpenter bee and after only a short pursuit the bees return to the territory they are defending. As for the swallows, they seem to pay no attention to the pursuing bees.