Chimney Swifts coming into roost at Cherokee Heights Middle School in previous fall migrations.(Photo by Sandy Schwab)
This year, Swift Night Out will be held on Saturday, September 6, 6-8PM. The location, as always, is to be determined by the swifts as they choose which chimney they prefer to roost in this migration season.
Each year the event is a little bit different, and this year, we are thrilled to partner with Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center to release back into the wild four healthy Chimney Swifts they have rehabilitated! Read more about this effort below, and join us on Sept. 6!
Four Special Guests, courtesy of the Wildlife Center
Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center currently has four Chimney Swifts in care, all hatchlings when they were admitted in early August and who have now grown to be fledglings. A bird’s lifecycle begins as a hatchling; then fledgling, meaning they are just learning to fly; to juvenile, when they are learning to live on their own; to adult, when they live on their own and start having baby birds of their own.
Three of these swifts are siblings whose nest fell from their chimney in Green County. According to the finders, it was the first time they had ever heard or seen Chimney Swifts using their home to roost or nest, and the chimney was not regularly cleaned. Our team informed them that it might not be the last time they'd try to nest and suggested changes to promote better conditions in the future. For example, swifts glue twigs to the inside of chimney walls and require a clean but non-slippery surface for stability. Keeping the inside of the chimneys cleaned outside of the nesting season (which is March to August) can help them thrive year to year.
A small group of Chimney Swifts cling to the walls of a fake chimney at the DCHS Wildlife Center as they’re rehabbed in 2023. (Photo courtesy of Jackie Sandberg, DCHS Wildlife Center)
Chimney Swifts are difficult to care for in rehabilitation and require unique skills. They are one of many species that are hand-fed for every meal and are given a diet that often consists of mealworms, waxworks, crickets, and other insects. They also receive specialized supplements containing vitamins and minerals for proper nutrition. Hatchlings spend their time in an incubator to help regulate their body temperature and are fed every thirty minutes for ten to twelve hours a day. In the wild, they also need saliva transferred from older swifts to strengthen their immune system - something that is difficult to replicate in rehabilitation without having swifts from other colonies admitted at the same time.
As they grow, gaining feathers and strength, fledgling swifts graduate to an outdoor aviary complete with its own mock chimney. There, they continue to feed and learn to fly, returning to the chimney every thirty minutes. Live insects are collected using research-grade traps and released into the enclosures as soon as the birds are flighted. This allows them time to practice aerial maneuvers and catch bugs-on-the-wing, ensuring that they have practice and endurance to survive the upcoming migration after release.
Our hope is that releasing them into a colony as large as this one during a Swift Night Out event will give these babies their best chance of survival by joining together with others of their same species. Each of the birds is federally banded with a USGS metal leg band, which you may be lucky enough to see while they fly through the air above you this evening (and maybe again in the future).
Written by Jackie Sandberg, Wildlife Program Manager
Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center
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