Blue Ridge Wildlife Center Patient of the Week: Chimney Swift

Renest is always best!

In the past few weeks, we have started taking more and more calls about Chimney Swift nestlings who have fallen out of their nests. Luckily, most have been successfully renested! Unfortunately it was not possible to renest these babies, so they were brought in for care.

Photos / Blue Ridge Wildlife Center

Chimney Swifts are specialized insectivores that eat and drink on the wing (in flight). As their name implies, they typically roost and nest inside brick or masonry chimneys, though they occasionally find natural sites in hollow trees.

Most of the calls we take about these birds come when their stick-and-saliva nests break off from the inside of the chimney and the babies fall to the fireplace.

Renesting is a bit different in these species compared to most other birds we treat. A makeshift nest (we recommend a small, wicker-style basket) must be placed on the smoke shelf, above the damper, or lowered down into the chimney from the top with the rope secured externally. The nest can also be secured to a stick or broom handle and wedged up the chimney.

Once these guys start to grow feathers and open their eyes, reuniting can be as simple as placing the baby over the smoke shelf – they are amazing climbers and can get themselves back up to the nest. There is a high success rate in renesting these babies when these techniques are used!

Use this excellent renesting diagram from our friends at the Wildlife Center of Virginia to better visualize these techniques:

If you cannot stand the sound of Chimney Swifts (they are quite loud), consider capping your chimney once the fireplace is out of use in late winter/early spring.

These birds are in decline and need many of these roosting sites—if you have a brick/masonry chimney and don’t mind these residents, consider leaving it uncapped and cleaning your chimney regularly in early spring so that they have a good surface to build upon.

If you don’t have a chimney (or prefer to keep your chimney capped) but want to help this species, consider building a nesting tower.

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