Outdoors Sustainability

Sustainability: Chimney Swifts

Chimney swifts

A Sight to Behold

By Paula Musto

Each March and into April, millions of migrating birds make their way north over Asheville and beyond, signaling the start of spring. These magnificent, feathered creatures, intent on mating and settling down for the warm months ahead, are a feast for the eyes. And, perhaps, none more so than the fanciful and very adaptable Chimney Swift.

Chimney Swifts adapted extremely well in the eastern U.S. after the first European settlers arrived and the birds’ natural habitat was transformed from heavily forested terrain into people-populated cities and towns. While their traditional roosting sites—dense forests with large, hollow trees—grew scarcer, industrial smokestacks and home fireplace chimneys became common. The birds found these man-made structures quite accommodating. Perhaps you’ve seen flocks frenetically encircling chimneys in tornado-like fashion before plunging inside.

It is not uncommon to see Chimney Swifts high above Asheville buildings at dusk, according to avid bird watcher Tom Tribble, past president of the Blue Ridge Audubon chapter of the National Audubon Society, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting birds and their habitats.

“It’s a sight to be seen,” says Tribble who has witnessed flocks swirling from atop downtown rooftops. “Once, we counted 4,000 birds.…I’ve often wondered what’s better—to be the first one in or the last one.”

Best identified by its distinctive silhouette (a stubby, brownish-black body with a blunt tail and long curving wings), this enigmatic little bird is sometimes referred to as the “flying cigar.” High-energy, Chimney Swifts spend nearly their entire lives airborne, flying constantly except when roosting overnight and nesting.

“Chimney Swifts do everything on the wing,” Tribble said. “Eating, drinking, bathing and even snapping off twigs for nesting material.”

Unlike most birds, they cannot perch. The swifts’ long claws are suited only for clinging to chimney walls or other vertical surfaces. Swifts stick their nests together with their spit, which acts like a glue to keep the nest intact and stuck securely to the wall of the chimney or other edifice it has selected for roosting. The birds pack in close together, huddled for nighttime warmth during spring and fall migration.

Chimney Swifts are true snowbirds, arriving in North Carolina in late March from their wintering grounds in South America.

Beginning in April and through October, bird enthusiasts have a good chance of seeing them fly overhead all day long. The real show, however, is in the fall when the birds depart en masse heading south for warmer climes where food is more plentiful in the winter months.

“Migration is all about the food,” Tribble says. “They will eat anything that flies—mosquitoes, fleas, moths, wasps, bees, flies.” A family of Chimney Swifts—parents and five babies—will devour 5,000 insects a day.

Though the swifts have proved to be highly adaptable in exchanging tree hollows for smokestacks, these birds, like so many avian species, are steeply declining in numbers due to habitat loss. Today, residential fireplace chimneys are often capped and large industrial smokestacks are rapidly disappearing, leaving fewer places for swifts to nest and raise their young.

The Audubon Society hopes to convince people that these federally protected birds are worth saving. If you cap a fireplace, it recommends hiring a chimney sweep to do the job in November and then opening the chimney up again before swifts arrive in the spring. Or, simply keep your chimney open. Newer chimneys tend to have metal liners that are too slick for the swifts to perch on, so preserving older chimneys with brick linings is critical to support the species. Because they are a protected species, it is against the law to remove or disturb these birds, or their active nests, during their summer breeding season.

Bird lovers might take a more proactive stance. You can construct a swift tower in your yard that mimics the properties that make smokestacks so inviting to these birds. Visit NC.Audubon.org to learn how to get started. Building a swift tower makes for an excellent outdoor project for young and old alike. The Blue Ridge Audubon Society has collaborated to construct five Chimney Swift towers in Asheville, including one at Isaac Dickson Elementary School.

Paula Musto is a writer and volunteer for Appalachian Wild, a nonprofit whose mission is to help injured or orphaned wildlife, support WNC’s wildlife rehabilitation network and provide wildlife conservation education. To help save wildlife, donate and learn more, visit AppalachianWild.org.

1 Comment

  • Do they swarm in chimneys when they come in March, or only in the fall? Most info says prime time is the fall.

Leave a Comment