Chimney Swift & Citizen Science:
Swift Night Out and Swift Week events
Held each fall in partnership with the Wisconsin Chimney Swift Working Group, BIPOC Birding Club, and Feminist Bird Club of Madison, Wisconsin
Chimney Swifts spend almost their entire lives flying! Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren
Chimney Swifts spend 90% of their lives on the wing. For the remainder, they can be found clinging to the inside of their namesake chimneys. Like many bird species, swifts are declining—their population in Wisconsin has dropped dramatically: 72% over the last 50 years due to habitat loss, reduced insect prey, and climate change.
During the nesting season, one pair of Chimney Swifts will nest in one chimney. As fall migration begins, swifts gather in large flocks. Shortly after dusk, the flock begins to swirl above a chimney, eventually dropping in one by one to roost for the night. Sometimes over 1,000 swifts will roost in a single chimney! They do this night after night on their way to their overwintering sites in South America.
Sign Up for Swift Week 2025 Event Updates!
Swift Night Out and Swift Week Events
Swift Night Out citizen science events are held nationwide, with participants counting the number of swifts roosting in a chimney that night. In 2024, we hosted Swift Week along with our partner (listed at the top of the page), counting swifts at Cherokee Heights Middle School in Madison each night for a full week. The numbers were astounding! The data are submitted to eBird to help track the population while providing information about key roost sites in our area.
We will again host Swift Night Out and Swift Week events in 2025, with the location to be determined by the swifts. Sign up to receive updates about the 2025 events on the form here.
A Swift Night Out event in 2024, which had around 300 bird lovers come watch the show! Co-hosted by SoWBA, Feminist Bird Club, and BIPOC Birding Club. Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt.
Chimney Swift Conservation:
Chimney Swifts are in serious decline, so much so that they were upgraded to the “Orange Alert Tipping Point Species” list in the State of the Birds 2025 Report. This means they have lost more than 50% of their populations within the last 50 years, and accelerated declines within the last decade.
Swifts rely heavily on uncapped chimneys to nest and roost. In the past few decades, the number of uncapped chimneys has dropped greatly in Wisconsin and beyond. Chimneys can be an expensive component to repair or rebuild, so during remodels, they are often removed or permanently capped.
Here are some things YOU can do to help Chimney Swifts.
Avoid capping chimneys, or remove the cap between late April and October when swifts are nesting or migrating. Get your chimney swept each April, and close the damper during nesting season.
Look for a chimney in your community that is used by swifts for nesting or roosting. If you find one, enjoy watching it and make sure that it is protected—call who owns it, share information about swifts, and advocate for preservation.
If there is a Swift Night Out held in your community, attend and bring as many friends, neighbors, and kids with you as possible. The more people who know and care about swifts, the better.
If there isn’t a Swift Night Out in your community, consider starting one. Learn from others who have done similar events.
Resources:
Purchase your own Swift Night Out shirt, with proceeds benefitting Chimney Swift conservation in southern Wisconsin!
More Chimney Swift articles by SoWBA:
Upcoming events:
Banner photo: Chimney Swifts coming into roost at the Cherokee Heights Middle School chimney in Madison. Photo by Brenna Marsicek/SoWBA
What draws most people’s attention to Chimney Swifts in the fall is their incredible roosting behavior. Chimney Swifts spend 90% of their lives flying—only pausing their lives on-the-wing to roost and to nest. They eat, sleep, mate, and bathe while flying. In migration, flocks of Chimney Swifts roost in—you guessed it—chimneys, clinging with their feet to the walls while they sleep.
Photo by Steve Benoit FCC