OMG that is so cute!! Congrats on a successful nesting.

Donna

Hahaha! That is so funny! Our brood of TRES just fledged this morning. Congrats! Tree swallows are so awesome (Second to Blues for me!).

They really are awesome birds. Now I have two BB boxes open for the Blues who I hear singing all the time. I just want those rotten little Wrens to go away. They are so persistent!

nhsuzanne, What kind of box is that? Your picture is so adorable with the three young ones lined up peeking out on the top. Is that a vent area they are peeking through? I'm always curious about nest boxes of a different design. It appears to open on the side and the top, is that correct? Looks like a really neat little nest box.

OH thank you for sharing that picture. I am so glad to hear about both nest fledging. It has been such a bad year for them, so it's heartwarming to know that there are babies making it to the skies. I think I have to say they are my favorite bird to watch and bless their little hearts they come so far to nest.

Lisa, it has been a horrible year here. It's been raining almost everyday since the end of May. The pattern just has to break soon.

Kendra, I got that box on ebay. It's nice because it has a top view window and a side viewing window, plus it opens from the front. It's cedar. I think it has too many open spaces I think for the rain to get in. Like where the roof meets the side and the little slot the three are perched on. I don't know if that's good and I wouldn't buy another one because of that. I want something a little more tight.
Right now ebay has some nice, well priced BB boxes.

I can see why the swallows liked this box though, it is shallow. Swallows prefer shallow boxes. I'm also looking for a new box; maybe I'll look on eBay.

How shallow is shallow? I am so new to BB but the guy on Ebay that I purchased from seemed to know the specs for BB. Still, The gaps made me nervous and all the endless rain we have had here in the NE. I just want BB's to nest! Although I thoroughly enjoyed those joyous little Tree Swallows!

I'd say shallow is like 6" or so from hole to floor.

I will measure that. Do you happen to know why they prefer shallow? Do you think that shallow is the reason my blues done't choose these boxes?

That is so cute. I have TRES nesting every year in a regular old BB nestbox. This year they fledged while I was away on vacation. What a mess they leave behind!!

This thread is very interesting. Here I was thinking that maybe they chose that box because of the extra large vent in the top (perhaps to make feeding multiples easier?). But ken3592 may be onto something. I hadn't even noticed that that box is indeed shallower than most. Maybe that's why they chose it. I will be trying a shallower box next year for the TRES. I wonder if shallower, but deeper would also be attractive to them and help keep the hatchlings out of reach of avian predators.

TRES do not have a lot of leg strength since they are designed to do most things on the wing. They can actually die trying to get out if the box is too deep and there are no kerfs (toe holds cut deep in the box leading to the hole). This is why they prefer a shallower box.

The TRES around here love my Gilwood boxes. I have six Gilwoods, three Nabs and one Martin Style box which has 1 1/2" holes. The Martin style house is always taken first then the Gilwoods then the NABs by the TRES.

Donna

Well that has to be the most adorable "baby" pic ever!

We don't have these gorgeous birds in our area. Supposedly they winter in the southeast, and though I've never laid eyes on one, I sure love all the TRES stories and pics.

Donna

OMG....how cute!!! Thanks 4 sharing your little babies!!

Karen