Linworth Alternative Program >> Chimney Swift Info

If you drive by Linworth Alternative Program’s building (the AP) often, you may have noticed one of the tall structures being constructed east of the building. It is a nesting tower for chimney swifts. Each spring the chimney swifts, like other migrating birds, return north from overwintering elsewhere, in this case, Peru. This particular species is native to central Ohio, so their return is not as noteworthy as their departure in September.

If you’ve been at the AP at dusk in the fall, you may have noticed a flock of birds circling the chimney and diving into it, single-file, until the flock has completely disappeared. At a glance, one might think they are bats. They are most often seen in groups at dawn and dusk, their flight patterns and wing movements resemble those of bats, and they eat insects. But they feed at different times of the day. Bats are active at night, while chimney swifts feed all day (on the wing, without perching at all) and return to their nests at dusk.

As he has done in the past,Wayne Harvey, Teacher-Director at Linworth, described the birds’ behavior to parents visiting the building for a Parent Board meeting one evening last September. He explained that chimney swifts aggregate in a single location called a communal roost, from which they practice “maneuvers” and migrate as a group. The tall chimneys at the AP (and at Kilbourne Middle School) provide a rendezvous point for swifts in the Worthington area for a week or so, each fall. After watching the birds dive one after the other, full-speed, down into the vertical shaft of the chimney, Carol Landis, one of Linworth’s past science teachers, logged on to the Internet to learn more about the birds. A website maintained by the Driftwood Wildlife Association, in Texas, provides information about swifts and the researchers there offered advice about how to support the birds in their search for safe nesting sites in the spring.

After receiving grant monies from the Center for Environmental Education (Antioch, NE), Carol requested help to build some nesting towers at the October Parent Board meeting. Linworth parents Tim Londergan and Mikel Coulter agreed to serve as architects and engineers on the project. Three nesting towers have been built on the Linworth school property since last fall. Students at the AP helped to erect and finish the nesting towers this spring. Last fall, Ryo Sato helped to pour the foundation and set the supports in concrete. This spring, he also helped by drilling the ventilation panels and helping to set the boxes upright. Ian Coulter and Marie Sato helped to assemble and mount the units on their foundations, and Patrick Briggs stained the outer surface. Madi Bell, Alyssa Osborne, and Joe Fusco recently helped to cover and protect the towers until they’re ready for occupation by nesting pairs of swifts. The towers were built in 4’ sections in the Londergans garage, lifted onto the supports, and assembled to the 8’ height listed as a minimum for successful nesting. The construction phase was completed on May 11, when external siding was added to prevent over-heating of the towers in mid-summer.

Some have wondered why the students and parents would work so hard for these little birds. Chimney swifts are facing the effects of modernization of the central Ohio area. Where they once nested in large, hollow trees, they now rely almost exclusively on man-made structures, whose design has changed over the past decades. All birds select their preferred nesting site based on what they saw when they first opened their eyes as they hatched (known as “imprinting”). So, the birds that hatched in chimneys look for chimneys for their own nest-building. However, chimneys are now constructed with clay liners and/or chimney caps, which prevent the birds from building nests in them. Some people scare the birds away and block the entrance to their chimney, if they’re annoyed by the birds’ twittering (always during the day) and the need to remove the nests in the fall before building a fire in the fireplace. So, nesting space is a limiting factor in our increasingly urbanized and modernized society. The birds are very helpful because they feed exclusively on flying insects. They eat about one-third of their body weight each day in the form of flying pests such as mosquitoes and biting flies. So, they provide a tremendous ecological service by removing insects without the use of chemicals or other devices. In addition, they are protected by State Wildlife Codes and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) which makes it illegal to disturb their nests. So this effort was a step that the Linworth learning community chose, to help maintain the swift population in the vicinity of the organic gardens on the school grounds and to provide another ecological learning experience.

The environmentally-conscious group donated their time not only for the benefit of the birds at Linworth, but also to raise awareness about the plight of chimney swifts. The towers will serve as educational tools as the students of the AP monitor the birds’ coming and going, nest-building and clutch size, and get help to band the birds that nest and fledge from Linworth. Information about the nests’ success and the number and activities of swifts at the Linworth site will form the basis of a population study for Carol’s students and will be posted on the side of the towers (like a kiosk) as well as to the Linworth website (when it’s ready). It is hoped that the students and community will come to appreciate both the natural history and ecological significance of the chimney swifts by observing their daily and seasonal behaviors.

-Newspaper article as printed in the local Suburban Newspaper

To read an article containing more information about the Chimney Swifts as written by Linworth AP student Marie Sato, click here.

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