One of Madison Audubon’s most popular fall field trips is A Swift Night Out. This nation-wide field trip/citizen science event invites community members to bring their lawnchairs and binoculars, and join in on counting chimney swifts coming into popular roosting sites (chimneys). Sandy Schwab of the Wisconsin Chimney Swift Working Group leads the event, teaching attendees about these amazing birds and how they can help reverse this species’ downward population trend.
Now, the WDNR is looking for information about where chimney swifts may be nesting. Below is the press release with more information. The more we know about the locations where chimney swifts are roosting and nesting, the better the prospects are for conserving this great species.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 23, 2020
Contact: Rich Staffen, DNR conservation biologist
Richard.Staffen@wisconsin.gov or 608-266-4340
Sandy Schwab, Wisconsin Chimney Swift Working Group chair
helpchimneyswifts@gmail.com or 608-658-4139
Got Swifts? Survey Seeks To Identify Chimneys Providing Bird Habitat
Pilot Project Aims To Help Owners Pay For Repairs To Preserve Habitat
A chimney swift and its baby nest inside a chimney. / Photo Credit: Nancy J. Nabak
MADISON, Wis. – Brick chimneys may be a key component to conserving acrobatic, fast-flying chimney swifts, so Wisconsin residential and commercial property owners are being asked to report if their chimneys are currently being used by swifts through a survey which can be found here.
Answers to the online survey conducted by the Wisconsin Chimney Swift Working Group will help shape a pilot project aimed at helping owners pay for chimney repairs, so they are more likely to keep the structures. DNR Natural Heritage Conservation Program biologists are part of the working group.
“Chimneys are crucial habitat for swifts that depend upon man-made structures for nesting and roosting before fall migration,” said Sandy Schwab, chair of the working group.
“We’d like to know if you have a chimney that is being used by swifts for nesting or resting, and if you do, if it’s in need of repairs. This information will help us develop our project to help preserve habitat for chimney swifts.”
A member of the Chimney Swift Working Group may contact respondents in the future to discuss their answers.
Chimney swifts nest in eastern North America (east of the Rockies) in the summer and migrate to South America in the fall. Historically, the birds congregated in large standing hollow trees in old-growth forests before they began their migration. However, as old-growth forests disappeared from North America, chimney swifts discovered that brick chimneys served as an easy and abundant replacement.
The birds can cling to the rough, vertical surface like the inside of a hollow tree. Hundreds of native chimney swifts may congregate in communal roosts, gathering strength before flying to South America and creating a spectacle that looks like “smoke” pouring into brick chimneys in the fall.
“Sadly, chimney swifts, like many other aerial insectivores including whip-poor-wills, nighthawks and swallows, are declining,” said Rich Staffen, a DNR Natural Heritage Conservation biologist and working group member.
“There are no definitive reasons identified yet for why this is, but the ongoing decline in insect populations is a major concern, and bird experts also know the removal of old chimneys or capping of them, is removing suitable nesting and roosting locations for these birds.”
The survey will help working group members understand which chimneys are being used for roosting and nesting by these birds and if those chimneys require any repair to keep them as a viable option for the birds into the future.
Chimney swifts have slender bodies, very long, narrow, curved wings and short, tapered tails. They fly rapidly, with nearly constant wing beats, often twisting from side to side and banking erratically. They often give a distinctive, high-pitched twittering call while flying.
