Counting Chimney Swifts at the Rice Dryer in Dayton

DAYTON, July 8, 2008 - Have you wondered what those folks, sitting in lawn chairs at the Dayton Legend Bank parking lot on Thursday evenings, looking through binoculars and spotting scopes were doing??? We are counting Chimney Swifts as they go to roost in the old American Rice Growers Association rice dryer.

One evening in mid May, Margaret & Maureen O’Conner noticed some birds swirling around the rice dryer as they passed through the intersection of FM 1960 and HWY 321 just before dark. Being members of the Lower Trinity Valley Bird Club, they mentioned this to some of the other members and they all decided to check it out one evening. So began the counting of the Chimney Swifts. We first counted 96 on May 29 and committed to count them every Thursday evening. We have counted as many as 224 on June 26.

The Lower Trinity Valley Bird Club invites anyone that is interested to come out and help us count. We meet on Thursday evenings at the Legend Bank parking lot, 501 N. Cleveland, Dayton, at 8:15pm and begin counting around 8:30pm as the swifts go to roost right at dark. Bring a lawn chair. We invite you to join us for a special “Swift Night Out” on Saturday August 9 at 7:45pm in the Community Room of Legend Bank. To keep up with the progress of “Swifts Over Dayton” check our page on the Houston Audubon Society’s web site http://www.houstonaudubon.org/index.cfm/menuItemID/689.htm

Chimney Swifts are birds specialized for high-speed aerial life. Swifts can be seen zipping through the air chasing their favorite feast - flying insects! Chimney Swifts nest in hollowed trees or chimneys. They build a u-shaped nest along the wall to hold the eggs. Swifts are only found in North American from March-November. The rest of their year is spent in South America.

Why should you care about Chimney Swifts? Chimney Swifts eat almost 1/3 their body weight in flying insects such as mosquitoes, flies and termites every day. Like many bird species, Chimney Swifts are declining in numbers and need our help. Chimney Swifts historically used large tree hollows for their roosts and nests, but now have adapted to chimneys and other structures as the old trees are destroyed. Because of losses to their natural nest sites, today, Chimney Swifts rely almost completely on humans for their nesting and roosting structures. Watching the Chimney Swifts dance and glide through the air is a visual delight that everyone should experience.

What can you do to help Chimney Swifts? If you have a masonry (brick) or clay tile chimney, keep the flue closed and the cap open from March-November to allow nesting. (Metal chimneys should be permanently capped to prevent birds from getting trapped in them). Have your chimney cleaned or “swept” before the birds arrive in March for breeding season. (Never hire a chimney sweep who advertises “bird removal”. It is against the law to remove chimney swifts while they are nesting). Talk to your friends and family about the benefits of letting Chimney Swifts nest in their chimneys.

For more information on Chimney Swifts visit www.chimneyswifts.org This is a project of the Driftwood Wildlife Association.

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