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Chimney Swifts
Many people, upon seeing a quick, small blackish bird flying out of the fireplace and into the living room, think they are seeing a bat.
Chimney Swifts are NOT bats!
Chimney Swift Facts
• Spend almost the entire day flying
• Closely related to the Hummingbird
• Cannot perch on branches, only on vertical surfaces like the inside of a chimney
• Catch insects only while flying, their beaks don't allow them to pick up the insects.
• Swifts usually return to the same nesting site and reunite with the same mate from the previous
year1.
• Use their sticky saliva to “glue” twigs together for the nest
• One to two additional Swifts (usually relatives) help the parents to care for young1.
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Our center is committed to promoting the conservation
of Chimney Swifts. If you have a masonry chimney
and would like to provide nesting habitat for
Chimney Swifts, if you believe the noise in your chimney
might be Swifts or find an adult bird in your house
or babies in your fireplace, please contact Wildbird
Recovery, Inc. for help. We welcome the opportunity
to educate the public about this species.
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Conservation: Chimney Maintenance
If your chimney is metal lined PLEASE CAP IT. Metal flues are a death trap to animals. Chimney Swifts will not interfere with the enjoyment of your fireplace. Chimney Swifts migrate to Peru starting in August. In March, have a professional chimney sweep clean your chimney and close the damper. This will prevent birds and other animals from entering your house. It will also allow parents to continue to care for their babies if they fall from the nest.
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Conservation: Artificial Chimneys
If you are interested in constructing an artificial
chimney to provide a safe nesting site
for Chimney Swifts in your area visit Driftwood
Wildlife Association’s instructions here.
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Sources:
1. Dexter, R. W. “Sociality of Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica) Nesting in a Colony,” North American Bird Bander. 17-2 (1992): 61-64.
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