Chimney Swifts in Connecticut
Page under construction.....
The Chimney Swift Project is a joint venture between the Uconn Ornithology Research Group and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CTDEP). Chimney Swifts are a common sight in the skies of the Northeast throughout the spring and summer months, but populations have declined steadily over the last several decades across their entire range. In 2006, the CTDEP issued Connecticut's Comprehensive Wildlife Strategy aimed at guiding the state's conservation efforts over the next several years. A main tenet of this document is to "Keep common species common", encouraging a proactive approach to managing wildlife species that may become threatened in the future. The Chimeny Swift certainly fits this description, and with this project we hope to accomplish the following:
- Develop and initiate an effective monitoring program that can be replicated by the CTDEP and other state agencies throughout the region.
- Develop and test the effectiveness of a newly designed artificial nesting tower.
Biology and Conservation Status
The Chimney Swift (Chateura pelagica) is a migratory bird that typically returns to Connecticut from South America during the final week of April, and breeds during the end of May and June. They are aerial insectivores that spend nearly all day in the air and roost at night on sheltered, vertical surfaces. Historically, the Chimney Swift roosted and nested in large hollow trees in the Northeast, but as European colonization removed most large trees and inserted chimneys, the swifts took advantage of this new structure. Chimney Swift nests are constructed from small twigs and saliva that are glued together on a vertical surface using saliva, forming a semicircular cup nest (see photo at right). Suitable chimney nesting sites have declined over the past several decades as older chimneys are torn down, capped, and lined. Newly built chimneys are typically built with a liner and a cap in place, making it nearly impossible for swifts to get inside and establish a nest. Nest site limitation may be a factor in the observed population decline.
Artificial Nesting Structures
One of the main goals of this project is to design and deploy artificial chimney swift "towers". Several organizations have published tower designs that have been demonstrated to successfully attract breeding swifts, but none of these designs have been empirically tested. Although these tower designs have been successful, they can be expensive, labor intensive, and require significant skill to constuct. We intend to develop and test a tower design that is: relatively inexpensive, easy to construct, moveable, and composed of materials that are easy to obtain. A design that incorporates each of these characteristics is much more likely to be constructed and deployed by state agencies, conservation organizations, and private landowners. Our Swift Towers have been installed in and around Storrs, and will be evaluated throughout the breeding season.
Monitoring
The CTDEP has been conducting Chimney Swift surveys for the past several years, but would like to employ an updated sampling scheme that incorporates known detectability rates for specific habitat types...
Public Education
There is great opportunity for public education throughout the duration of this project, and long into the future if the towers become a permanent fixture in the landscape.
Photo Credits:
(1) Michael Brown, 2007. http://www.flickr.com/photos/67383370@N00/518587619/
(2) Mon@rch: http://monarchbfly.com
(3) Irene: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7791990@N04/1431355860/
