Bird

Tree Swallow

Tachycineta bicolor

Lives in North Carolina all year and nests here. Found in all 100 counties, across 16 habitats.

Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 16

Male Tree Swallow, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Matt Felperin, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 133783442. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 16
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in North Carolina 16

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 16

SummerWinterSouth-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large FloodplainNamed place / source context. Shown: Congaree Swamp National Monument floodplain forest, South Carolina; representative illustration, no exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.fallen (uprooted) tree, John Dawson, by1988. Public domain. Source record.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland SystemsRegional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterDeveloped, Open Space; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Ruderal Upland - Old FieldLyell Carr, Black Mountain: a pasture and hayfield with a log barn, rail fence and grazing cow below the Black Mountains. Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr)*Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain"*, Lyell Carr, c. 1890-1912. Public domain. Source record.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianFrederic Edwin Church, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina (1865-70): a boulder-strewn mountain river under autumn-coloured ridges. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt)*Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70*, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Swamp Systems; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampNamed place / source context. Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretationView, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

SummerWinterUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.

Winter

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland; Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

SummerWinter

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Sounds, bays and tidal flats

Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)

Wet meadows

Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems

Other habitats in its models (105)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.

In North Carolina 1

Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer and winter.

Elsewhere in the South (53)

Appalachian Shale Barrens Summer, only within 250 m of water.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Winter.
Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Winter.
Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Summer, only within 250 m of water.
Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Summer, only within 250 m of water.
Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer, only within 250 m of water.
Cumberland Sandstone Glade and Barrens Summer, only within 250 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
East-Central Texas Plains Floodplain Forest Winter.
East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Winter.
East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Winter.
East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Winter.
Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
Florida Dry Prairie Winter.
Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Winter.
Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Winter.
Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Winter.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Winter.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Summer, only within 250 m of water.
Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Summer, only within 250 m of water.
South Florida Bayhead Swamp Winter.
South Florida Cypress Dome Winter.
South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Winter.
South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Winter.
Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter.
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Winter.
Western Great Plains Floodplain Winter.

Northeast (6)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer and winter.
Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer, only within 250 m of water.
Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Summer, only within 250 m of water.
North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer.
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.

Midwest (8)

Central Mixedgrass Prairie Summer, only within 250 m of water.
Central Tallgrass Prairie Summer, only within 250 m of water.
North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer, only within 250 m of water.
North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer, only within 250 m of water.
North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Summer, only within 250 m of water.
North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Summer, only within 250 m of water.
North-Central Oak Barrens Summer, only within 250 m of water.
Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Summer and winter.

Land cover and other classes (37)

Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Summer, only within 250 m of water.
Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer, only within 250 m of water.
Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer, only within 250 m of water.
Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer.
Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer.
Developed, Low Intensity Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Winter.
Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Winter.
Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer and winter.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Winter.
Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer and winter.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer and winter.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer and winter.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer and winter.
Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter.
Recently Burned Summer and winter.
Recently Burned Forest Summer and winter.
Recently Burned Grassland Summer and winter.
Recently Logged Areas Summer, only within 250 m of water.
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Winter.
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Winter.
Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Winter.

All habitats

Seasons in North Carolina

Year-round: nests here, in 17 of 100 counties.
Migratory: does not nest here, in 50 of 100 counties.
Winter: does not nest here, in 22 of 100 counties.
Summer: nests here, in 46 of 100 counties.

Food plants

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.

Native plants in these genera 8

Common Waxmyrtle
Morella cerifera
Tree. Native
Northern Bayberry
Morella pensylvanica
Tree. Native
Southern Bayberry
Morella caroliniensis
Tree. Native
Common Juniper
Juniperus communis
Tree. Native
Eastern Red Cedar
Juniperus virginiana
Tree. Native
Southern Red Cedar
Juniperus silicicola
Tree. Native
Thicket Creeper
Parthenocissus inserta
Vine. Native
Virginia Creeper
Parthenocissus quinquefolia
Vine. Native

Plant genera in its diet records (4)

Morella Fruit. 3 diet records. 3 native plants in North Carolina
Cornus Fruit. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
Juniperus Fruit. 1 diet record. 3 native plants in North Carolina
Parthenocissus Fruit. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in North Carolina

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.