Chimney Swift - Ross Feldner

This medium-sized aerial acrobat was first described in 1758 by the Swedish botanist and physician Carl Linnaeus who believed it was a swallow. John James Audubon called it the “Chimney Swallow.” These birds used to nest in old growth hollow trees. When these trees were lost to logging, the birds adapted to using chimneys to nest and roost.

The Chimney Swift is a tireless flyer often spending all day flying in search of flying insects and airborne spiders, only coming down at night to roost. It is an important predator of the pest species red fire ants. It has the nickname “cigar with wings” first used by the famous ornithologist and bird illustrator Roger Tory Peterson.

Unlike most birds, its short legs and small feet have no scales, instead they are covered with smooth skin. Another amazing feature is its large, deep set eyes which are protected by small patches of coarse, black, bristly feathers. Swifts can change the angle of these feathers, helping to reduce glare.

The Chimney Swift is a gregarious species seldom seen alone. Usually hunting in groups of two or three, sleeping in huge communal roosts of hundreds or thousands of birds!