This summer I turned twenty years old, and Tree Swallow 281122697 turned seven. I started working with Alaska Songbird Institute in 2021 as a highschooler in their high school intern program. I knew very little about birds, field research, or Tree Swallows, but I was eager to learn. In 2021, the male Tree Swallow number 281122697 was also new to Alaska Songbird Institute’s program, nesting for his first time in one of the nesting boxes we monitor in the Potato Field at UAF. We have no idea where he was born, but during this first time nesting in one of our boxes, a small metal band with his number 281122697 was placed onto his leg. This acted as an ID tag, and allowed us to see where he showed up in future years. All of the bands we use on birds are issued by the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory, so all North American birds share the same database.
A tree Swallow chick with an ID band on its leg.
The next time we caught number 281122697 was in 2023, nesting in a box right next to the one he used in 2021. Such extreme site fidelity is a Tree Swallow characteristic that never fails to impress me. Number 281122697 had already successfully nested in the Potato Field once, and he remembered his nesting location for an entire year as he migrated thousands of miles down south for the winter. On his way back up for the summer, he managed to navigate those same thousands of miles precisely enough to return back to the Potato Field. Sadly, his loyalty to the Potato Field did not pay off, and his clutch of 5 chicks in 2023 were all killed by a squirrel who found his nest. Squirrels are the main predator of nestling Tree Swallows in Alaska because they can fit into the nest through the entrance hole, but other predators such as raptors and foxes are a threat year round. Human made threats such as insecticide poisoning, window strikes, and house cat predation also have a huge year round impact on Tree Swallows.
Despite his bad luck, in 2024, 2025, and 2026 number 281122697 returned to the Potato Field, again nesting in boxes neighboring the ones he used before, this time with much better success. By this point, he had nested with a different female each year, and so it is quite clear to me that he was the one initiating where the nest was built each year. I feel like I know this bird now. In the spring I felt as if I could predict his nesting patterns. I knew there would be one nest in the Potato Field, just one, it would be on the east side of the field, in one of the newer nesting boxes that still smell like cedar when you open them, and that nest will be fathered by number 281122697.
Number 281122697 in 2026.
Seven years old is quite an impressive age for a Tree Swallow. He has traveled much further than most Tree Swallows do in their lifetime, and seen much more of the world than I likely ever will. I wish him a safe journey back to his winter grounds, and I hope to see him again next year.
Number 281122697 with his mate in 2025.