Nest Box #31: Violet-Green Swallow Nest

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On June 1st, a few days after the Western Bluebird hatchlings were preyed upon by a gopher snake, a pair of Violet-green Swallows, Tachycineta thalassina, started to bring nest material into nest box #31. On the night of June 10, the first egg was laid. Their nest is made of dried grasses, pine needles and feathers which were added to the previous Western Bluebird nest. On June 28, the 3 eggs hatched. Both parents enter the nest box and feed the chicks. UPDATE: On July 13, 2000 a webcam viewer sent us an e-mail alerting us that something was in the nest box. It turns out that it was a baby California ground squirrel. I got to the box in time to save the other two nestlings but the squirrel had eaten part of the third nestling. I immediately put sheet metal around the base of the tree. On July 18, a California ground squirrel attacked the other two nestlings. We did not rescue the birds in time. We are leaving the nest box up for further predator observation but we will discourage any other birds from using this box again. This observation will help us design a predator guard. The format of this page has changed to reduce download time. Please click on any day in the calendar to see the image. If you have a few minutes to spare (download time) and want to see the all the images at once for the nest building, egg laying, incubation, hatching and feeding times use the specific links at the bottom of the page.   Violet-green Swallows June 1-June 30: Nest Building, Egg Laying, Incubation and Hatching. June  2000 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat         1 2 3          Male and female building nest    Female building nest More feathers 4 5 6 7 8 9 10          Feathers and nest material is moved around     11 12 13 14 15 16 17 First Egg Female Adding more Feathers  Second Egg Female sitting on eggs  Third Egg    Eggs Are Constantly Turned by Female Eggs turned again.  Female Incubating Eggs. Eggs  More feathers are added 18 19 20 21 22 23 24  More feathers are added             25 26 27 28 29 30         Hatchlings Male helping Female keeping hatchlings warm   Male feeding nestlings Female Feeding Nestlings Nestlings      Violet-green Swallows July 1-19: Feeding and 3 Nestlings Predation July  2000 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat             1               2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Nestlings at 4 days old  Nestlings at 5 days old      Male feeding nestlings Female warming nestlings    Moments before female brings in food. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15          3 nestlings 2 nestlings after one is preyed upon by a ground squirrel.  2 nestlings waiting for food.   16 17 18 19 20 21 22    Taking a look outside the box. Standing up in the box  2 swallows were preyed upon  Empty Nest  Squirrel in nest box eating seed.  Squirrel in nest box eating seed. Took off all lower branches of nestbox tree. Squirrels haven't returned.   23 24 25 26 27 28 29               30 31                         Violet-green Swallow Nest June 1, 2000 2:31 pm Exploring their new nest. June 11, 2000 8:35 am First egg.  June 12, 2000 8:33 am Two eggs. June 13, 2000 8:56 am Three eggs. June 28, 2000 8:38 am Eggs hatched.   June 29, 2000 8:38 am Male feeding hatchlings. June 30, 2000 2:03 pm Female feeding hatchlings. July 13, 2000 8:39 am 3 nestlings. July 13, 2000 12:43 pm 2 nestlings. July 20, 2000. California ground squirrel in box.    Quick Violet-green Swallow Nest Highlights  Violet Green Swallow Links June 1, 2000: A pair of Violet-green Swallows started bringing in nest material and moving around the previous western bluebird nest material in nest box #31. June 10, 2000: Female laid her first egg sometime in the middle of the night or early morning on the 11th. June 11, 2000: Female laid second egg sometime in the middle of the night or early morning on the 12th. June 12, 2000: Female laid third egg sometime in the middle of the night or early morning on the 13th. June 13-28, 2000: Female incubates the eggs. Several feathers have been added to the nest since the first egg was laid. June 28, 2000: 3 eggs hatched in the early morning. The female and male remove the eggshells from the nest box. Since that time, both the female and male are busy feeding the nestlings. For detailed notes on the feeding behavior, click on the Detailed Nest Box #31 Observations in the right hand column. July 7, 2000: The nestlings are over a week old. Their feathers are coming in thicker. The female is not spending as much time in the nest box keeping the nestlings warm (during the day). She and the male are constantly catching and bringing them food; about every 2-3 minutes. There is an open meadow close to the nest box so the parents don't have to travel far for food. July 13, 2000: California ground squirrel got into the nest box and ate (partially) one of the nestlings. July 18, 2000: Two remaining nestlings were eaten by a California ground squirrel. July 20, 2000. We baited the nest box with bird seed to observe how the squirrel got in. The juvenile California ground squirrel got into the nest box through the entry hole. We believe it climbed up a branch and approached the box from above the sheet metal. Violet-green Swallow Nest June 28-July 13: Feeding Nestlings. Violet-green Swallow Nest June 15-28: Egg Hatching Violet-green Swallow Nest June 1-13: Nest Building and Egg Laying Violet-green Swallow Facts and Detailed Nest Box #31 Observations The Birdhouse Network: Violet-green Swallow species information, nest box designs and more. USGS Violet-green Swallow species information. VGI Vision Foundation: Violet-green Swallow species accounts, sounds and pictures