Tree Swallow

I wouldn't recommend that everybody go up on the roof of their house to scan the neighborhood, but it works for this Tree Swallow. (Walking around on the edges of your roof is less dangerous when you have wings, and can fly out of any misstep you make.)

The females are described as having a duller color blue than the males; this guy looks to be a shiny enough blue that it's almost certainly a male. And it wouldn't surprise me if he's guarding a brood in the birdhouse he's standing on. They might be small, but these acrobatic fliers will dive down on intruders (and they have a fairly expansive definition of "intruder") at least as large as humans.

May 13, 2021 at Raritan River Greenway
Photo 132038848, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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