Backyard Chimney Swift Conservation

By Adam Katrancha, Pennsylvania Forest Steward, Class of '09

Dunlo and Llanfair, two villages located along a stream formerly known as Yellow Run and now identified as Sulfur Creek in Adams Township, southeast Cambria County, PA, were established by enterprising timber and coal industrialists. These communities, once home to over 3,200 hard-working and often grizzled eastern European immigrants, developed into bustling communities of their own and offered public services and amenities, including an electric light plant, rail service, the commercial enterprises of any respectable town, and, of course, public schools. The Dunlo-Llanfair Public School located along Llanfair Road, once having several hundred students, now sits abandoned by the school district consolidation process. Even in its dilapidated state—with partial collapse in recent years—it is not entirely vacant. Since shortly after the school’s formal closure, migratory residents, traveling from South America, arrived each spring following the seasonal emergence of insects. These summer residents, Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica), have entertained onlookers with aerial acrobatics and served as insect control agents for the neighborhood for years. They have also made the chimneys of the old Dunlo school their roost throughout the breeding and migratory seasons. Fortunately for this scream of swifts, they found members of the Allegheny Plateau Audubon Society (APAS), renowned for raptor monitoring at the Allegheny Front Hawk Watch, and the Beaverdale Sportsmen’s Association (BSA), experienced with woodland warbler habitat development, as adoring neighbors to their currently deteriorating abode.

Prior to European colonization, Chimney Swifts roosted in hollow trees and caves, and on cliff faces. With expanding human settlements, forests were cleared of the old growth nesting sites, but ready replacements were found in the stone and masonry chimneys that supported the growing populations of both humans and the accompanying birds. Unfortunately, recent shifts in human behavior are now having detrimental effects on the swifts. In addition to climate change, pesticide use, and plummeting insect populations, recent cultural and technological changes in residential and commercial heating methods are reducing available roost sites due to the transition toward covered, narrow flues that are unsuitable for nesting. In an effort to ensure the annual return of their summer visitors, the neighbors in Dunlo began their investigation into the swifts and potential means to support their livelihood.

Typically insectivores, Chimney Swifts feed on the wing, taking insects in flight or snagging them from branch tips, with the reported occasional consumption of an elderberry or two, but never feeding from a stationary position. The Chimney Swift will never sit on a perch like most birds. Their long claws are suited only for clinging to the walls of chimneys and other vertical surfaces and are supplemented with spines on the end of their tail feathers to stabilize them. They forage mostly over open terrain but also over forests, ponds, and residential areas—anywhere with an adequate insect population. Wintering in Amazonian South America, they again roost in chimneys, caves, and similar vertically surfaced buildings.

Fortunately, the needs of the swifts are few. Vast acreages of woodlands, expansive wetlands, or complicated management plans are not requirements for their neighborliness. They only desire a safe roost and adequate insect population and often acclimate to man-made structures. As overseer of a vacant lot about 500 feet away from the school building, BSA member Adam Katrancha offered the 1/3-acre site, now a coal mine refuse dump reclaimed to an urban meadow with warm-season grasses and a collection of young trees, as an available location for a Chimney Swift tower. The towers, usually wood or masonry structures, provide protection and mimic the vertical faces provided by hollow trees and chimneys. With a firm place and purpose, in-depth investigations into tower construction were required. A brief search yielded Chimney Swift Towers: New Habitat for America's Mysterious Birds (Kyle and Kyle, 2005), which offered a variety of designs with detailed construction drawings. Now with a plan, and hoping to attract summer tenants with luxury accommodations, the human builders decided on the construction of a masonry tower to serve as shelter for the foreseeable future. To ensure acceptance by the community and adherence to local ordinances, Adam attended the township planning commission meeting where the proposed project was explained and received by the commission. With a few modifications to provide a footer below the frost line, construction drawings from the Chimney Swift towers book were submitted and a construction permit issued.

Adult Chimney Swifts are most commonly observed in flight. Scythe-shaped, their wings span slightly over a foot, supporting a proportionally short, cigar-shaped body. Sooty-gray to black, the “flying cigars” exhibit a flickering bat-like flight accompanied by “chippering” or “ticking” vocalizations. Their annual migrations bring them to the U.S. in late March, and they are quick to depart, returning south again by November, with a later arrival and earlier departure in the northern states. Nesting begins in May and continues through August in the warmer climates. In cooler seasons, an aggregation of swifts will roost together to share in the warmth of numbers. Even in summer, unmated swifts will roost together. Other nonbreeding residents may be tolerated, but there will only ever be one mating pair nesting in a chimney.

Recognizing the limited flexibility in the bird’s spring flight schedule, Adam solicited construction help from BSA and APAS colleagues while still seeking a masonry contractor willing to undertake such a unique project. Wayne Berkey (BSA) graciously offered an evening of backhoe services to dig the footer. With a hole of satisfactory dimensions, Daniel Omasta, proprietor of Concrete & Masonry Unlimited, Inc. of Johnstown, began construction of the footer and masonry block walls. He quickly completed the footer and began laying concrete blocks. As blocks were placed, Adam offered limited assistance by backfilling around the rising tower and infilling with gravel for drainage. The tower soon rose above ground-based access and scaffolding was erected. As Dan continued his Saturday morning work schedule from the scaffolding, Adam kept him supplied with blocks and mortar. With winter temperatures fast approaching, the tower achieved the 12-foot height, and 4-inch solid blocks were placed as the cap to exclude winter precipitation from the block cavities. The solid cap would also serve as a durable anchor for the planned wood framed roof.

As winter arrived, construction of the tower’s wood components—an access door and roof—commenced indoors. With the intent of creating a long-term, low-maintenance structure, weather-resistant hemlock, salvaged from a windfall, was milled to various thicknesses by hobbyist sawyer Rich Strayer. Adam then petitioned woodworking neighbor Ed Paluch for assistance with fabrication. Working in Ed’s woodshop, a slightly pitched roof was constructed to shed water and, more importantly, to shade the tower interior. The thick masonry walls help regulate temperature, but direct sun can still overheat the interior, so a roof covering most of the tower throat was provided, with only a 16”x16” opening on the northern edge for avian access. A scaled-down access door was also provided at ground level. This door serves a dual purpose of providing access for maintenance as well as containing screen-covered ventilation holes to, again, aid in temperature control. With lengthening daylight and warmer temperatures returning, Adam called on BSA/APAS members Bob Stewart and Greg Gdula to help with carpentry work and the final assembly of the tower’s components. Understanding the swift’s modest tastes, 5/8” T1-11 sheathing was installed on the interior walls to mimic the natural material of the hollow trees used where man-made homes are not available. The T1-11 is left untreated, cut and installed with the textured grooves oriented horizontally to offer a slight ledge for nest building. With the roof now anchored in place and the door and interior finished in a rustic décor, the tower was now available, offering vacancy to the early spring arrivals.

The Chimney Swift’s courtship display—two birds flying close together while calling, then with the snap of wings into a V-shape, gliding together in downward curve—typically begins within two weeks of their return to the northern breeding grounds. Once mated, only for the season, the pair will scout nest locations until a suitable site is found. Shallow, half-saucer shaped nests are built from loosely woven twigs. The nests are attached to vertical surfaces with the birds’ glue-like saliva. Both parents share in the incubation and, after about 18 days, the catching of insects for the young. At times, unmated adults will also contribute to the rearing of another’s young. At one month, young Chimney Swifts will leave the nest for their first flight. The young return to the nest for a few days, but are eventually pushed out by the parents to begin their adult lives. After the breeding season, Chimney Swifts join larger flocks in migration to South America. During migration, as many as 10,000 swifts may circle in a tornado-like flock at dusk and funnel into a roosting colony to spend the night. Surprisingly, the lives of these widespread urban adapted birds are unstudied due to their inaccessible nesting and roosting sites and their aerial lifestyle.

The swifts did return to Dunlo after completion of the tower, with eight regularly counted. However, instead of using the tower, they returned to the comfort and protection of the old school’s venerable chimneys. Even without first-year occupancy, the builders of the tower are proud of their project and enjoyed the camaraderie of working toward a common conservation goal. As Chimney Swift populations decline, the robust, nearly maintenance-free nature of this tower will ensure a safe summer roost for a young, mated pair or as alternate lodging should the school’s ongoing deterioration or demolition render it uninhabitable. Adding a final complement to the whimsical structure, Greg, Bob, Ed Gowarty, Sr. (APAS), and Tom Kakabar (BSA), joined efforts in late fall to plant a variety of trees and shrubs on the formerly vacant site.

While not everyone has the means to construct a Chimney Swift tower, conserving this threatened species is something anyone can support. As migratory birds, they and their nest sites are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. It is illegal to harass, remove, or in any way disturb a nesting pair of Chimney Swifts. A proactive supporter can help identify roost sites and, as old chimneys are lost to modernization, share information and campaign for their conservation. The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania has a Chimney Swift Tower Initiative, and numerous other websites and Audubon chapters offer ideas and resources to help inform and protect this species.

As a predictor of warmer days, the residents of Dunlo and Llanfair eagerly look forward to the swift’s seasonal return. While there is some doubt as to whether a “vacancy” sign will entice residency in the newly constructed tower, there is always enjoyment in watching the acrobatic displays and the satisfaction of contributing to the conservation of an important species.

June 2023 Update: Upon hearing rumors of the impending demolition of the Dunlo School, Adam contacted the current owner and shared the Chimney Swift’s story. While preserving the school’s chimneys was not practical, the owner recognized the swift’s migratory schedule and worked to complete demolition prior to their return. The school was demolished in April 2023. The swifts did return on schedule and have been observed entering three neighboring house chimneys, with the tower still appearing unoccupied. The Chimney Swifts, undeterred by the new roosts, still provide daily entertainment and insect control. It is hoped that with time, the tower will be accepted, and the supporting community can boast of successful conservation efforts.

Resources:

http://www.chimneyswifts.org

http://aswp.org/pages/audubon-s-chimney-swift-tower-program

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Chimney_Swift/overview