Have your chimney cleaned after winter is over so that it’s a clean and safe habitat.If you would like to provide a home for chimney swifts, here are some tips: After they have gone, we can remove the nest and any debris the birds have left behind. If you do, by federal law, you must leave it there until the birds leave for the south. We can help you determine whether you have an active nest in your chimney. If you ever suspect that chimney swifts are in your chimney, call our chimney professionals. These structures are fairly easy to construct, and step-by-step instructions are readily accessible on the Internet. Many bird lovers who are aware of the plight of chimney swifts construct chimney-like towers for them to nest in. Once chimney swifts nest in your chimney, they’ll be back every year, unless you install a chimney cap. In addition, when chimneys have metal liners, the birds can’t hold onto the sides and they can get trapped inside this type of chimney. Adaptation of the birds has been difficult as more people use chimney caps. Research has shown that the chimney swift population has been declining. Fledglings leave the nest after about a month but once the really loud chirping begins, it’s usually only about two weeks before migration to the south begins. But with the destruction of forests, the birds adapted by nesting inside masonry chimneys.Įven though this gregarious bird species sleeps communally, with groups of sometimes thousands of birds, homeowners often don’t realize that chimney swifts have built nests in their chimney until the babies hatch. Their natural rural habitats are hollowed out trees. The reason for this is that their feet and legs are specially designed to hold onto a vertical surface. If they do land on a level surface, it’s difficult for them to launch into flight. What distinguishes chimney swifts from other birds the most is that they are unable to perch horizontally. One reason to be glad the birds are around is that every day they eat a third of their weight in insects such as mosquitoes, beetles, and termites. They spend practically all of their time in the air, landing only to sleep at night and to raise their young. The birds are about 5 inches long, weigh about one ounce, and have unique half-moon-shaped wings with a 12-inch span. In the Eastern U.S., chimney swifts are the most common migrating birds and people often mistake them for bats. It depends on how you feel about temporarily housing noisy but otherwise harmless birds as to whether it’s bad news or not, but it would be against federal law to move an active chimney swift nest. But if you don’t have a chimney cap installed, there is a good chance chimney swifts will nest in your chimney sometime from late March thru November. Well, an old factory smoke stack may be ever more preferred. These tiny birds are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and their favorite place to make a nest is in your chimney. If you ever see bat-like creatures rapidly circling your home, it’s possible you are seeing chimney swifts. Is that a Federally Protected Bird Chirping in your Chimney?
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