A chimney swift is a bird, an aerial insectivore that consumes more than 1000 insects per day. It roosts in brick-laid chimneys. It is not a dusty child from a Charles Dickens novel!

There are many chimney swifts in Côte-des-Neiges and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce — you can see their aerial acrobatics and hear their calls on most late afternoons in summer. I know a wildlife technical teacher who lives on the fourth floor of an apartment building on the edge of Côte-des-Neiges. A chimney swift swooped in through her balcony door, which she caught in her kitchen. Here it is:

A chimney swift in the ice-cream-cone hold

This is what we biologists call the dorsal view. Here is one in profile:

A chimney swift in profile, just prior to releasing

At Le Nichoir, where I’ve volunteered, they have a rehab aviary for the young and injured, and outdoor habitat for wild and healthy chimney swifts. Hurricane Wilma in 2005 decimated Quebec’s population of chimney swifts. Their population still needs help. Thus the topic of today’s blog post!

If you want to see, hear, and learn more about chimney swifts, visit their All About Birds page. They also have an article for “It Sounds Like There Are Birds Stuck In My Chimney. What Should I Do?”

For more facts on Canada’s chimney swifts, look at their Species At Risk Fact Sheet.

“The chimney swift has declined in Canada by 90 percent since the 1970s. In Manitoba, we basically sit at the northwest periphery of its global range, and when a species declines it always declines from its edges… We’re probably at the frontline of trying to help this species here in Manitoba because we’re at that edge.”

Tim Poole, Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative

Accommodate chimney swifts if you can (please do!)

How to make your chimney a home for chimney swifts is an inspiration to an urban wildlife lover.

After the winter hearth fires are put out, if your chimney is not lined with a metal tube, you’re in luck! You could host some chimney swifts until next autumn comes. Montreal’s population will arrive in May. Their numbers have dwindled and habitat has declined.

Most chimneys have a cap over them to keep the rain out, and may also have a cage to keep animals out, too. Again, if you have no liner in the chimney, remove the cage or even the entire cap, and you could take part in boosting their numbers now.

If your chimney’s dirty, take the opportunity to clean it. You need to do this for you, every few years, to prevent a fire hazard. With use, ash and creosote build up. If you don’t use a fireplace anymore (in accordance with municipal law and human health, because particulate pollution is an issue), this chimney-cleaning might not even be necessary. Those who converted over to a pellet stove (this is what I did) will have a metal liner in the chimney, which precludes using them for swifts. If you converted over to gas, you’ll have to ask whether your chimney is being used for exhaust, and whether it is lined all the way.

Finally, the prospective roosting chimney doesn’t have to be your own. Old buildings could already be accomodating swifts. Their chimneys could be protected for swift use, or made more attractive by finding more people to advocate for them, and get the building management on board. Look around your neighbourhood for opportunites, and get in touch with a local birding club.