Tree swallows are
thriving in the Meadowlands once again, thanks to an innovative nesting box
program.
And the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission now has the data to prove
it.
With a huge boost from local scout troops, families and other groups, the Meadowlands Commission has
erected some 250 nesting boxes in marshes throughout the 30.4-square-mile
district.
This year, with the help of 
GPS devices, the Meadowlands Commission naturalists Mike Newhouse and Gabrielle Bennett-Meany
are keeping track of tree-swallow activity in all of the nesting boxes.
They found that more than 60 percent were occupied by nesting pairs, with 610 eggs laid and more than 480 nestlings successfully fledged as of July 15.
Click "Continue reading..." for more images and information.
Tree swallows are a popular bird, not just for their
iridescent beauty and
graceful speed, but also because they are voracious insect-eaters.
It has
been estimated that a family of tree swallows can eat hundreds upon hundreds of
midges, mosquitoes and other insects in a day.
The birds arrive in the district in April, raise their families, then migrate
to Florida and points south again in midsummer.
Each nesting pair has a clutch of two to
eight eggs. 
Pictured here is a look inside a nestng box, with young inside.
The nest-box program began nearly 20 years ago when a Meadowlands Commission
naturalist put up a few nesting boxes for the six-inch-long birds, which have
slowly been losing places to nest as the region gets built-out.
The program has grown into a major grassroots effort. For the past six years,
the Meadowlands Commission has conducted workshops that have enabled families
and groups to build the nesting houses from kits – and then donate them to the
tree swallows.
The community response has been
strong, including families, scouts, Women's Clubs, and a group of adults with developmental disabilities that created boxes so beautiful that
the NJMC naturalists hate to put them in a marsh.
But building the nesting boxes is just the start.
After putting the boxes on poles along the edge of
marshes throughout the district over the past two
decades, Bennett-Meany and Newhouse are now in a labor-intensive effort to record the activity
in each of the 250 boxes every two to three weeks.
They use GPS devices to determine which locations have the most
breeding success. 
The naturalists hope to expand the program by another 50 to
100 boxes next year.
The
Meadowlands and its more than 8,000 acres of urban wetlands are prime habitat not just for tree
swallows.
The district provides a year-round or seasonal home
for more than 260 avian species, many of them threatened and endangered.
Like the tree swallow, many of these imperiled
birds breed in the Meadowlands.
They underscore its importance, both as a magnet for birds and as an indispensable habitat for other species whose population has been dwindling.
Persons wishing to learn how to create their own tree swallow nest box project or who simply would like to learn more about these terrific birds might enjoy visiting www.treeswallowprojects.com, a site devoted to this species.
Posted by: Chris Gates | August 11, 2009 at 03:48 PM
I live in Bitish Columbia Canada
For the past two years we have noticed a dramatic decrease in our tree and violet green swallow populations. BC has been spraying for mosquitoes and we were wondering if our swallows are being starved out. Would anyone know if this is a possibility or could there be some other reason.
Posted by: Jen | July 03, 2009 at 11:15 PM
Thank you for your interest.
I will forward your request to our naturalists.
Jim W.
Posted by: jim wright | October 06, 2008 at 07:58 PM
I am looking for nesting data for Tree Swallows for 2006, 2007, 2008 in order to compare with the results in the 14 boxes I monitor in Western MA. Anyone know where I can get some info on number of nests, eggs, hatching and fledging percentages?
Posted by: Patsy Curley | October 06, 2008 at 07:18 PM