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Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
Bonding behavior
Below: A Tree Swallow silhouetted against the setting sun in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (5/7/2011).
Below: A recently fledged Tree Swallow still gladly accepting hand-outs (i.e., a dragonfly) from its parents (Lake Artemesia, P.G. Co., Maryland, 6/20/2009).
Wintering on Assateague Island, Maryland
Comments: Top three photos taken in Howard Co., Maryland (4/15/2006). Fourth photo taken in Garrett Co., Maryland (4/30/2005). Bottom photo taken on Assateague Island, Maryland in January 2005. The Tree Swallow is able to winter far north of its relatives primarily due to its ability to supplement its diet of insects with seeds and berries. Here in the Mid-Atlantic, a staple of its winter diet is fruit of the Northern Bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica). The same dietary supplement also fuels the hordes of Yellow-rumped "Myrtle" Warblers that winter on Assateague Island, far north of other insect-eating warblers.