Tree Swallows
October 31, 2025
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By Alane K. Dashner of Lodi, CA
Blue face and white chin with tiny black beak
Poke out from a nesting box, launch in a streak
Zigzagging acrobat swoops overhead
Corkscrewing white-belly long wings outspread
Grasshopper, Dragonfly, Spider and Bee:
The Tree Swallow’s beak is the last thing you’ll see!
It swallows and swallows and swallows all day
All-you-can-eat at the Delta buffet
All year around in the Delta. If a small, white-bellied bird swoops over your head in the California Delta, it may well be a Tree Swallow chasing insects. This bird is voracious, sometime eating more than 100 insects per day. During cold weather with low insect activity, the Tree Swallow can survive by eating berries. The Tree Swallow nests in tree cavities or nesting boxes.