Chimney swifts may need new home

May 20, 2011 |

NEW GLASGOW - Hundreds of tiny birds call the chimney at Temperance Street Elementary School home during late spring and summer, but a local bird enthusiast fears that they may be left homeless when the elementary school closes in a few years.The plight of the chimney swifts will be highlighted at an upcoming illustrated talk at the school by the Nova Scotia Bird Society, said Ken McKenna, a member of the Pictou County Naturalists Club, which is helping to organize the event.Known as "flying cigars with wings," these tiny birds begin flying to Pictou County from their winter homes in South America every spring and begin arriving in May. By the end of the month, between 400 and 700 birds arrive at the school's chimney to roost."It's one of the biggest, if not the largest, colonies in the Maritimes," said McKenna, who has been keeping track of the numbers of birds that call Temperance Street School home for the past six years. "They roost in the big chimney - it's not used a lot - and wait there for the weather to settle a bit until they're ready to nest."Typically, the birds leave the school by early July to nest in abandoned buildings and hollow trees, often going as far afield as James River. They return to the school in August and, by the end of the month, begin flying back to the Amazon.These are the types of birds the county wants to have, McKenna added."They're bug eaters - they eat aerial insects," he said. "While they're roosting, from dawn to dusk, they're in the air the whole time, they don't land, and catch bugs to feed on the entire time. They're not the type of birds who perch, they don't have the proper legs for that."It's believed that the birds have been using the school's chimney as a home base for decades, but it's not known why that particular chimney is attractive to the chimney swifts."It's quite interesting watching them go in," he said. "They spiral around and around and more and more gather as the evening goes on. They seem to react to the amount of light in the air - in the evenings when it's overcast, they go in earlier - but all of a sudden, and we don't know why, but they all go in. It's like a vortex - they just kind of suck right into it."That typically happens between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. and is quite a sight to see, he added."It's a free show - some people might think they're bats, but they're not," McKenna said. "It's the same ritual every night, and sometimes you'll see two birds pair off and swoop with each other in a little courtship."The chimney swifts will be the focal topic on May 28, when the Nova Scotia Bird Society meets at Temperance Street School. Karen Potter with Canadian Wildlife Service will talk about the biology of the bird, while McKenna will discuss his observations of this particular roost over the past few years and Ally Manthorne with Bird Studies Canada will discuss counting these birds, which are declining across the Maritimes.The event will get underway at 7 p.m. and the group will go outside following the presentation to watch the birds spiral into the school chimney at dusk. All are welcome to attend.

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