Tree Swallow Swarms

Icy winds are blowing outside, and there is a group of tree swallows swarming about on the breeze. They are joined by more and even more birds. We’ve been seeing them over the impoundment in small groups, but now sometimes they fly in a huge crowd: there must be more than a thousand birds, swooping and diving, separating and reforming and wheeling around again for another pass. When birds fly in big flocks like this, they may be able to avoid predators by confusing them. Like they’re working with a single collective brain, this flock descends and lands on the wax myrtle for a snack. Tree swallows can spend the winters where insects aren’t as plentiful, because they also eat the berries of the wax myrtle. We love watching them in these huge formations!