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Building Chimney Swifts a New Home
Rolling out the red carpet for swifts
© Like Dennis
Public radio station WYSO in Yellow Springs, Ohio, renovated a historic schoolhouse to move into. But there was a bird problem: the old chimney had to come down, and Chimney Swifts were known to nest in it. So the station decided to custom-build the swifts a new home: a Chimney Swift tower right on the front lawn. The builders worked quickly to finish the tower ahead of the Chimney Swift’s spring migration, and WYSO staff members played recordings of swift calls to help attract them to the new home.
BirdNote®
Building Chimney Swifts a New Home
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
Public radio station WYSO in Yellow Springs, Ohio, renovated a historic schoolhouse to move into. But there was a bird problem: the old chimney had to come down, and Chimney Swifts were known to nest in it. So the station decided to custom-build the swifts a new home: a Chimney Swift tower right on the front lawn, says general manager Luke Dennis.
Luke Dennis: It's actually a very beautiful tower, in keeping with the style of the 1872 building. The bricks facing the inside are very rough in texture and there's lots of mortar slopping around, you know, like there are lots of things for them to cling to, and to build their nests onto. It'll be a good home for them.
The builders worked quickly to finish the tower ahead of the Chimney Swift’s spring migration.
Luke Dennis: We were just ready as swifts were starting to be sighted in the village.
And that’s not the only thing WYSO did to roll out the red carpet.
Luke Dennis: Every evening at dusk, we're playing recordings of Chimney Swift songs in an attempt to lure them into the new space.
[tape of Chimney Swift calls]
Chris Welter: It is Monday, May 2nd. This is Chris Welter and I am here at the Chimney Swift tower again. Here I have the bird sounds playing from a Bluetooth speaker. I have a bunch of birds flying above me, a bunch of Chimney Swifts. And the neighbor next door, he said that he was willing to help out, he also has a Bluetooth speaker that he said he could sometimes use.
And after a few weeks of playing recordings, their efforts began to pay off. Chimney Swifts started entering the tower.
Luke Dennis: It was worth the investment of time and resources because we don't want to eliminate the home of all these birds.
[Chimney swift tower ambi]
For BirdNote, I’m Conor Gearin.
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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Content Director: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2022 BirdNote August 2022
Narrator: Conor Gearin
ID# WYSO-01-2022-08-19 WYSO-01