Thousands of Swallows Swirl Into the Roost

Tree swallows (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

8 January 2025

Where have the swallows gone while it’s snowy and cold in Pennsylvania?

In January all the tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) in North America are on their wintering grounds from coastal North Carolina to Texas, the Caribbean, and Central America. Most of them are in Florida, as you can see on eBird’s abundance map for the week of 4 January.

Tree Swallow Weekly Abundance throughout its range (screenshot from eBird)

How many tree swallows are there?

In January 2012 Mark H. Vance filmed 3 million(!) of them swirling into their roost near Sarasota, Florida. His video lasts almost 9 minutes.

embedded video by Mark Vance on YouTube

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