Field Guide : Chimney Swift
Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.
From late spring to early fall, chimney swifts are found in the eastern half of the United States. As a boy, I spent many summer evenings entranced by the small, frog-mouthed birds as they whirled and eddied above my childhood home on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. In the failing light, they’d vanish into our home’s chimneys in cutting, dramatic arcs. The species has evolved to roost on vertical walls – of caves, hollow trees, and, as their common name suggests, chimneys. My childhood bedroom was cut through by a chimney, and I delighted in knowing that I slumbered so near the swifts.
Chimney swifts are often described as “flying cigars,” but their remarkable aerial ability and body shape make me think more of heat-seeking missiles or small war planes. Beyond our observations of their flight and feeding, we don’t know much about these birds. Chimney swifts spend most of every day on the wing, and then nest or roost in dark, hard-to-access sites; studying them is a challenge. What little we do know comes from research conducted in North America. Their lives during winter, when they fly to South America’s Amazon basin, are something of an ornithological black box.
The dearth of information about the swift’s life on its wintering grounds presents a conservation problem. Chimney swift populations are rapidly declining, but biologists aren’t sure why; many suspect the primary cause is associated with the winter months. Still, there are other contributing factors here in North America. The population decline may be, in part, a “correction” of sorts. Before European settlers arrived in North America, the breeding swift population was relatively small, their numbers limited by nesting opportunities – there were only so many good cave walls and hollow trees. Once settlers started building chimneys, though, the swifts’ population density increased fourfold. Today, with more and more chimneys being capped and fewer new homes including them, chimney swifts are back to caves and hollow trees. Also likely contributing to the bird’s population decline is what some call the “insect apocalypse,” the global decline in insect populations due to agricultural monocultures, pesticides, and development. Fewer insects means fewer calories.
Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).
Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.
Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.
From late spring to early fall, chimney swifts are found in the eastern half of the United States. As a boy, I spent many summer evenings entranced by the small, frog-mouthed birds as they whirled and eddied above my childhood home on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. In the failing light, they’d vanish into our home’s chimneys in cutting, dramatic arcs. The species has evolved to roost on vertical walls – of caves, hollow trees, and, as their common name suggests, chimneys. My childhood bedroom was cut through by a chimney, and I delighted in knowing that I slumbered so near the swifts.
Chimney swifts are often described as “flying cigars,” but their remarkable aerial ability and body shape make me think more of heat-seeking missiles or small war planes. Beyond our observations of their flight and feeding, we don’t know much about these birds. Chimney swifts spend most of every day on the wing, and then nest or roost in dark, hard-to-access sites; studying them is a challenge. What little we do know comes from research conducted in North America. Their lives during winter, when they fly to South America’s Amazon basin, are something of an ornithological black box.
The dearth of information about the swift’s life on its wintering grounds presents a conservation problem. Chimney swift populations are rapidly declining, but biologists aren’t sure why; many suspect the primary cause is associated with the winter months. Still, there are other contributing factors here in North America. The population decline may be, in part, a “correction” of sorts. Before European settlers arrived in North America, the breeding swift population was relatively small, their numbers limited by nesting opportunities – there were only so many good cave walls and hollow trees. Once settlers started building chimneys, though, the swifts’ population density increased fourfold. Today, with more and more chimneys being capped and fewer new homes including them, chimney swifts are back to caves and hollow trees. Also likely contributing to the bird’s population decline is what some call the “insect apocalypse,” the global decline in insect populations due to agricultural monocultures, pesticides, and development. Fewer insects means fewer calories.
Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).
Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.
Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.
From late spring to early fall, chimney swifts are found in the eastern half of the United States. As a boy, I spent many summer evenings entranced by the small, frog-mouthed birds as they whirled and eddied above my childhood home on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. In the failing light, they’d vanish into our home’s chimneys in cutting, dramatic arcs. The species has evolved to roost on vertical walls – of caves, hollow trees, and, as their common name suggests, chimneys. My childhood bedroom was cut through by a chimney, and I delighted in knowing that I slumbered so near the swifts.
Chimney swifts are often described as “flying cigars,” but their remarkable aerial ability and body shape make me think more of heat-seeking missiles or small war planes. Beyond our observations of their flight and feeding, we don’t know much about these birds. Chimney swifts spend most of every day on the wing, and then nest or roost in dark, hard-to-access sites; studying them is a challenge. What little we do know comes from research conducted in North America. Their lives during winter, when they fly to South America’s Amazon basin, are something of an ornithological black box.
The dearth of information about the swift’s life on its wintering grounds presents a conservation problem. Chimney swift populations are rapidly declining, but biologists aren’t sure why; many suspect the primary cause is associated with the winter months. Still, there are other contributing factors here in North America. The population decline may be, in part, a “correction” of sorts. Before European settlers arrived in North America, the breeding swift population was relatively small, their numbers limited by nesting opportunities – there were only so many good cave walls and hollow trees. Once settlers started building chimneys, though, the swifts’ population density increased fourfold. Today, with more and more chimneys being capped and fewer new homes including them, chimney swifts are back to caves and hollow trees. Also likely contributing to the bird’s population decline is what some call the “insect apocalypse,” the global decline in insect populations due to agricultural monocultures, pesticides, and development. Fewer insects means fewer calories.
Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).
Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.