Educate Yourself About the Chimney Swift and Other Swifts

Chimney Swift

The Chimney Swift has a cigar shaped body that is dark gray above and below, swallow like shape, long, narrow-based, slightly curved stiff wings that are dark above and below; with a long tail that only shows when it is spread. Its length is 5-6 in (12-14cm)

Their eggs are white with one clutch consisting of 4-5 or (3-6) eggs. Both incubate for about 19-21 days, and fledging time is about 28-30 days. Both feed their young. Male and female look alike.

The Chimney Swift or “cigar on wings”, as they are referred to, is an agile bird witch will be air born from early morning till dusk, and with pointed wings like the falcon, they are surely built for speed, witch can reach up to 200 miles per hour. They do not only eat and drink on the wing; they will also court their mate and collect sticks while airborne. Although they look like swallows, they are more closely related to the humming bird, which both have tiny feet, and stubby legs.

If you live east of the Missouri River, you will find Chimney Swifts, which range from Canada to Florida. Chimney Swifts now almost exclusively roost, and nest within chimneys, and similar looking man-made structures, but use to nest and roost in hallow trees. During migration they are known to be roosting together at night by the hundreds, even thousands in industrial chimneys and smokestacks, and watching them all entering or leaving the chimney in these large numbers, is an amazing sight.

Many pairs roost together within airshafts in large structures, but will also have solitary nests in smaller chimneys, only a few feet from the top. Chimney Swifts have tiny, hooked beaks, but a huge mouth that they open widely in flight, to catch flying insect like flies, ants, and beetles.

The Chimney Swift attach their cup-shaped, crude stick nest to a cliff, or wall with sticky saliva, where they usually lay 4-5 white eggs. Young swifts are known to stay in the nest longer than other birds their size, but will usually leave after about tree weeks. If you know that you have swifts roosting and nesting in your chimney, be very careful not to use your fireplace during the spring, because the heat and smoke can kill them.

If you like to attract Chimney Swifts and other swifts like the White-throated, and Vaux’s Swifts, the only thing is to have an uncapped chimney, without a slick metal liner, and lots of little flying insects over your lovely bird feeding garden.