Tree Swallow
Tachycineta bicolor
Tree Swallow · Arverne Preserve · 20 June 2026
A Tree Swallow at Arverne in June, where the preserve's open marsh and standing snags hold a good number through the summer. Tree Swallows breed across the northern half of the continent and nest in cavities, readily taking to boxes over open water.
Iridescent blue-green above and clean white below, with none of the rusty throat a Barn Swallow shows - the cleanest-cut of the swallows that breed around the city. They are the swallows that can winter on bayberries when the insects fail, which is why they are the first back in spring.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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