Tree Swallows are aerial insectivores — a single bird may eat 6,000 mosquitoes a day during nesting season.
They're one of the few songbirds that can digest fruit, which lets them stay in northern climates longer than other swallows.
Females select boxes with the cleanest lines of sight to nearby water, where they catch most of their food.
Tree Swallows are aerial insectivores absolutely tied to water. Without a pond, lake, or marsh within ¼ mile, you won't get them — but if you have one, they're easy.
Pole-mount the box 5–6 ft up in a wide-open field or yard with no overhanging branches. The closer to a pond, lake, marsh, or wet field, the better — within ¼ mile is the sweet spot.
They catch flying insects on the wing — you can't feed them directly. Crushed eggshells on a flat platform supply calcium for laying females (a known limit on their reproduction).
Skip ornamental shrubs near the box — they want clean flight paths. Open lawn or pasture is the ideal foreground.
Place a second box 10–20 ft from the first. Tree Swallows will tolerate a second pair of swallows nearby but defend against bluebirds — paired boxes give both species a shot.
If you don't already have a pond, even a large stock tank or rain garden boosts your chances by attracting the insects swallows hunt.
Don't use lawn pesticides — they kill the flying insects that make up 100% of a swallow's diet.
An aerial insectivore that nests across Canada and the northern US, then migrates to the Gulf Coast, Florida, and Mexico for winter. The most cold-tolerant of North American swallows.
Breeds from Alaska east across the Canadian boreal forest, south through the northern US — common as far south as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska, and northern California.
Massive winter roosts along the Gulf Coast, throughout Florida (especially Lake Okeechobee), and along the Atlantic coast as far north as the Carolinas in mild winters.
Winters along the entire Mexican coast, throughout Cuba and Hispaniola, and as far south as Honduras and Costa Rica.
Common breeder throughout the Pacific Northwest, the northern Rockies, and montane areas of the Sierra Nevada and Cascades.
Open habitats next to water — beaver ponds, lake edges, marshes, and flooded fields are ideal. A nest box on a fence near a pond is the dream setup.
Body sized to 5"×5" floor. The 1½" panel locks out larger nest competitors while letting the Tree Swallow pass cleanly.
See the full lineupPair boxes 15–30 ft apart to reduce competition with House Sparrows.