Part 3: Birds You Can Attract to Your Bird Houses and Nest Boxes

This is a continuing series on attracting birds to your yard.

Tree and Violet-green Swallows

Tree swallows prefer bird houses and nest boxes attached to dead trees. Space the birdhouses  about seven feet apart for these white-bellied birds with iridescent blue-green backs and wings. The ideal setting for these insect-eaters is on the edge of a field near a lake, pond, or river. 

Violet-green swallows nest in forested mountains of the west; birdhouses placed on large trees in a semi-open woodland will attract them. 

Barn Swallows and Phoebes

If you have the right habitat, barn swallows and phoebes are easy to attract. It's their nesting behavior, not their plumage or song, that catches your attention. These birds tend to nest where you'd rather not have them: on a ledge right over your front door. To avoid a mess by your door, offer the birds a birdhouse  nearby where you'd rather have them. 

Please check out the vast array of bird houses at www.aboutbirdhouses.com.