1.0Juneau Empirehttps://www.juneauempire.comWire Servicehttps://www.juneauempire.com/author/wire-service/On the Trails: Violet-green swallows; shoveler ducks - Juneau Empirerich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="8a6Js3WnBD"><a href="https://www.juneauempire.com/2025/05/25/on-the-trails-violet-green-swallows-shoveler-ducks/">On the Trails: Violet-green swallows; shoveler ducks</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.juneauempire.com/2025/05/25/on-the-trails-violet-green-swallows-shoveler-ducks/embed/#?secret=8a6Js3WnBD" width="600" height="338" title="“On the Trails: Violet-green swallows; shoveler ducks” — Juneau Empire" data-secret="8a6Js3WnBD" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">
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https://www.juneauempire.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2025/05/39483962_web1_Willson-JUE-250528-1_1.jpg20481151In early May, one of my great pleasures was watching violet-green swallows in their fast, circular flights over water (e.g., the river, Kingfisher Pond). They’d just arrived from their wintering ground in Mexico and Central America and were preparing to move to their nesting areas. Flying insects form their diet; there are no reports of them eating anything else. I see these swirling flocks in spring and also in fall, as they get ready to move south. They seem to have been less thoroughly studied than our other swallows, but some basics (and a couple of odd-ball observations) have been documented.