Blue Ridge Wildlife Center Patient of the Week: Chimney Swift

Do you hear chattering in your chimney?

If you’ve been hearing chattering in your chimneys, you might be lucky enough to have a nest or roost of Chimney Swifts!

We’ve already received 25 Chimney Swifts this year, and have so far released nearly a dozen youngsters with another handful of birds waiting to mature enough to release.

These birds are quite unique in that they don’t perch horizontally but rather require a vertical perch, like they would have inside a chimney or hollow log.

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.

Any grounded swift should be seen by a rehabilitator, as these birds are flighted when they fledge, and if unable to fly off the ground, they likely have an issue that needs treatment. Please do not attempt to “toss” any grounded swifts or allow them to fly off from your hand, as their tolerance to be picked up is a red flag that something is wrong.

Chimney Swifts are unique in that, when they’re released, they must be released with a colony of birds to join up with and migrate with! Despite it still feeling like summer, fall migration is beginning soon for many species, and these swifts won’t be far behind.

Not sure you have chimney swifts around? Look for these ‘flying sausages’ in the sky this evening!

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