Attract birds to your yard

Cover Photo: Baltimore Orioles love oranges! Ohio, Magee Marsh May 2010 from the Surfbirds galleries © Glyn Sellors
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Most of us start watching birds close to home, at a window or in our backyard. One more way to see more birds is to make your home and backyard more attractive to them. The key is to provide the basic necessities for birds: food, water, and shelter.

Purple Martins and Swallows

Purple Martins are the largest swallow in North America. Birds are roughly the size of starlings. The photographs below are of young birds which have paler gray bellies. Adults are a deep purplish blue color. Purple Martins are very strong flyers. Birds winter in Brazil and nest in North America. Stray young birds have even flown across the Atlantic! Their diet consists of flying insects which they catch in flight.

purple martins

A male and female Purple Martin sit outside their Martin house. Males are a deep purplish-blue color. Madison, May 2011 photo © Mark S. Szantyr

young purple martin

A young Purple Martin sits outside its Martin house. Adult aales are a deep purplish-blue color. Madison, May 2011 photo © Mark S. Szantyr

Purple Martin Houses

Many people put up Martin houses each year and fail to attract any birds. Purple Martin houses need to be at least 30 ft away from any houses and must not have any trees higher than the house nearby. Houses should be 10-20 ft off the ground. Martins like to feed near water so boat docks make an ideal location for a house. Nesting begins from June through August. Birds are very faithful and return to the same site each year. Some lucky and dedicated Purple Martin addicts have watched their colonies grow from a few birds to more than 40 birds in a few years!

female purple martin

Female visiting her house © Mark S. Szantyr

male purple martin

Adult male Purple Martins are truly stunning birds! Photos above and below © Mark S. Szantyr

male purple martin

Adult male Purple Martins are truly stunning birds! Photos above and below © Mark S. Szantyr

young purple martin

Purple Martins are strikingly large in flight, closer in size to a starling than a swallow. This photo by Rami Mizrachi is of a lost juvenile 2000 miles in the middle of the Atlantic on the Azores

Barn Swallow

barn swallow

Barn Swallow in Madison by Mark S. Szantyr from Surfbirds Galleries

Barn Swallows in North America have more reddish underparts than their counterparts in Europe.

Blue above with red throats, Barn Swallows are similar to Cliff Swallows. Note the long tail streamers and the blue back. Cliff Swallows have reddish rumps. Barn Swallows also winter in South America and spend the summer in North America where they can be found nesting in mud nests under house eaves and in barns and other primitive structures (see photo below). Barn Swallows catch insects in flight. There are no houses that can be put up for this species.

barn swallow nest

Barn Swallow Nest - Photo © Bonavia

barn swallow

Barn Swallow showing its blue black and long wings and tail Photo © Mark S. Szantyr

barn swallow

Barn Swallow - Photo © Simon Woolley

Compare to the Cliff Swallow below that has a reddish rump and much shorter tail often visible in flight.

Cliff Swallow

Cliff Swallows are blue above with red throats and rumps. Cliff Swallows are the returning swallows of San Capistrano in California.

cliff swallow

Cliff Swallow - Photo © Alan Henry

Cliff Swallows are much smaller than Martins and have reddish collars, rumps and throats and a pale yellowish patch on their foreheads. They nest in mud domes underneath arches and eaves of houses.

cliff swallow

Cliff Swallows gathering mud for their nests - Photo © Derek Moore

Cliff Swallows nest in mud domes underneath arches and eaves of houses.

These swallows also winter in South America and spend the summer in North America where they can be found nesting in mud nests under house eaves and under bridges. They can often be found flying to muddy puddles to collect mud for thier nests. Cliff Swallows catch insects in flight. There are no houses that can be put up for this species.

flying cliff swallow

Cliff Swallow - Photo © Mike Hunter

Note the orange rump and pale forehead.

Cave Swallow

Cave Swallows are mostly found in Texas and the southeast. Each Nov', small numbers turn up in the far northern states and Canada.

cave swallow

Juvenile Cave Swallow Photo © Alan Wormington

Note the orange forehead and paler throat compared to Cliff Swallow above.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow is easy to identify because it is essentially a plain brown swallow. Only to be confused with the less common and much smaller Bank Swallow.

rough-winged swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow Photo © Clara Coen

Northern Rough-winged Swallows are dull brown all over their upperparts.

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