Question: I was at the beach near Boardwalk 1 yesterday around noon and there were hundreds of small birds gathering from the west and flying over the inlet. They looked like swallows or something of that type. Can anyone tell me what kind of bird they might be? Meg Kaufmann
Answer: A similar question has been asked multiple times in the past few weeks. Jennifer Jerome recognized the large flock pictured above in late October when she was on North Beach. These are Tree Swallows!
After Melanie Jerome saw them recently on North Beach, she wrote this week’s “Bird of the Week: Tree Swallows“. She indicated the Tree Swallows were even sitting on the sand.
Although Tree Swallows are on Seabrook Island year-round, they are seen in greater numbers in spring and fall.
Bob Mercer’s comment was “This is a very common behavior for tree swallows at this time of the year. I have seen hundreds if not thousands of Tree Swallows sitting on the beach up here in NJ.”
Since Tree Swallows feast primarily on insects, I hope these large flocks help control our mosquitoes and no see-ums.
Answered by: Judy Morr
Photo by: Jennifer Jerome