Dr, Bill Zitek.who single handedly turned around theBluebird nesting program, I starting eighteen years ago, and has been a beloved veterinarian for the last forty or so years in the north fork of LI , requested me to post on his behalf the following:
I could contribute to this but don’t know how to get in to the conversation. 18 years on our nest box trail at Mashomack produced not only Eastern Bluebirds but even more Tree Swallows. One of the treats for volunteers was to watch a feather thrown up into the air and immediately snapped up by a swooping tree swallow. One time one of our volunteers brought a friend along, when told of this phenomena with tree swallows, he scoffed at the idea and net me a lunch that it wouldn’t happen. To be on the “up and up” I let him flip a white feather up into the air near a tree swallow nest box. I ablink a tree swallow swooped in and claimed the feather and to make sure we understood it’s ability, passed the feather in mid air to its mate. Our doubter looked rather sheepish realizing his mis-calculation of tree Swallow prowess. I was ready for a free lunch but our friend quickly left us when we got back to our drop-off point. As they say : “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”. Bill On Tue, Jun 8, 2021 at 2:37 PM Joseph Wallace <joew...@gmail.com> wrote: > The choice of what feathers swallows choose, and how they reflect local > conditions, is another interesting path! Given the size of the feather I > observed, and the way the mix of fields/lawns and river's edge at Croton > Point Park attracts Canada Geese, I'd guess that goose down might be a > popular nest-liner there. > > On Tue, Jun 8, 2021 at 11:41 AM anneboby <anneb...@aol.com> wrote: > >> Further to Bob Paxton's comment about Tree Swallows' love affair with >> feather lining of their nests, I have found these birds very resourceful >> with their feather gathering depending on the nature of their local >> habitat. For years I have monitored nest boxes in Upstate counties of >> Schenectady, Saratoga, Schoharie and Montgomery. Depending on location, >> these swallows gather feathers of a wide range of species, as well as in >> varying quantity. Rural areas are more endowed with local fowl than are >> suburban areas leading to easier gathering. >> >> For instance the nest boxes at the Landis Arboretum in rural Schoharie >> Co. with roosters crowing in the distance had much larger gatherings of >> goose, duck and chicken feathers in general than did the boxes at West >> Hill, a suburban residential area in the Town of Rotterdam in Sch'dy Co >> where Great Horned Owl feathers made an almost annual appearance. >> >> In some areas the tan body feathers of barnyard geese are very popular, >> but so can be white feathers from domestic ducks. Less numerous are flank >> feathers from male Mallard, Wood Duck and body feathers of Wild Turkey. >> >> Some of the rarer choices are from Great Blue Heron, Great Horned Owl >> (body), No. Saw-whet Owl (primaries) and the strangest of all: Common >> Nighthawk. One nest in Montgomery Co contained 5-6 nighthawk feathers >> including flight feathers (rectrix and wing) suggesting that this swallow >> had found a dead nighthawk and was harvesting feathers from it. Nighthawks >> molt away from the northeastern U.S. spring nesting season. >> >> Feathers, flight and body, from local passerines also show up in these >> nests on rare occasion. But far and away, body feathers of barnyard fowl >> are the most common Tree Swallow nest lining material in these counties. >> >> Bob Yunick >> Schenectady >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Robert Paxton <r...@columbia.edu> >> To: Joseph Wallace <joew...@gmail.com> >> Cc: NYSBIRDS <NYSbirds-L@cornell.edu> >> Sent: Mon, Jun 7, 2021 8:35 am >> Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Barn Swallow question >> >> Another element to the white feather game. Swallows (especially tree >> swallows, but perhaps barns too) habitually decorate their nests with white >> feathers. >> Bob Paxton >> >> On Sat, Jun 5, 2021 at 10:04 PM Joseph Wallace <joew...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> This is more about bird behavior than rarity, so apologies if it's o/t, >> but I watched a swallow engage in extraordinary (to me) behavior at Croton >> Point Park in Westchester today. It started when I spotted something white >> drifting slowly towards the ground: a large, downy feather. Just as I >> focused on it, a Barn Swallow snatched it out of the air with its beak. I >> expected the bird to head off to its nest, but instead it dropped the >> feather...and then circled and snatched it out of the air again. >> >> For the next few minutes, I watched the swallow repeatedly release the >> feather, do wide loops around it--sometimes feinting in its direction--and >> then pluck it out of the air. Twice it let the feather land on the grass, >> retrieving it once while on the wing and once by landing beside it. Finally >> the swallow did head off, I imagine to line its nest at last. >> >> I'd never seen swallows engage in play, but I can't see how this was >> anything else. Has anyone else here ever witnessed something like this? >> Thanks--Joe Wallace >> -- >> *NYSbirds-L List Info:* >> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> >> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >> *Archives:* >> The Mail Archive >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> >> Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> >> ABA <http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> >> *Please submit your observations to **eBird* >> <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>*!* >> -- >> >> -- >> *NYSbirds-L List Info:* >> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> >> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >> *Archives:* >> The Mail Archive >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> >> Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> >> ABA <http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> >> *Please submit your observations to **eBird* >> <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>*!* >> -- >> > -- > *NYSbirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> > ABA <http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> > *Please submit your observations to **eBird* > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>*!* > -- > -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
