Hi all,

There has been an update letter?from the rehabber of Carolee's British Columbian
Violet-green Swallow. Here it is:

HI Carolee, Your bird is doing fantastic. She was definitely emaciated after
having no food for at least 36-48 hours. She is strong enough to sit on her
perch and flutter to the other perch.

?I would get rid of that nest box. ?If the bottom is too narrow or too deep,
they cannot fly up and out. That is why birds get trapped in large small
pails. ?They are too deep for the bird to fly ?out. It is a dangerous trap
but luckily you saved this bird in time. She was90%dead when you brought her
to us. ?Thanks ever so much for caring!!!
????????????????????????????? --Carol

End Quote

I took a look at the boxes I have in stock and they have a? 6" smooth?pinewood
vertical plane between the floor and the hole.? When I imagine being a Swallow
trying to scale that, I think "How?"

(Luckily, I've been a near-total failure at?marketing these boxes?but there are
two customers who have purchased?similar ones?and I'll contact them.? I
will?also see if the manufacturer, Countryside Culture,?can build a horizontal
designed box like the ones the Violet-greens are currently?using at our house,
from a manufacturer who is long out of the business.)

If anyone has a vertical box of the basic Bluebird style design like these, I'd
recommend not removing it but raising the floor 3 inches and making sure the
scarp the bird faces is rough not smooth.

I'd like to thank Carolee?Colter,??Paul, ?and Carol from Beaks, the rehabber in
British Columbia, for?discovering this problem, which I had no inkling of until
now,?and helping?the victim of one of the boxes I dispersed.


-Ed Newbold