As the Chimney Swift's breeding season comes to an end, families and unmated individuals are gathering in large communal roosts before they migrate en masse to the Amazon Basin for the winter. BSC is encouraging Ontario residents to help look for roosting Chimney Swifts on the weekend of August 13-15. Volunteers will spend an evening watching a local chimney or similar manmade structure for signs of swifts. The goals are to increase our knowledge of Chimney Swift activity in the province, recruit interested participants/communities into our more formal Ontario SwiftWatch monitoring program, and raise awareness of the plight of the Chimney Swift, a federally Threatened species whose population has declined in Canada by 96% over the last 40 years.
You can help researchers identify critical Chimney Swift habitats by choosing a single night between August 13-15, and watching a chimney where swifts may roost. Start your monitoring period 20 minutes before sunset, and continue until you see the last bird entering the chimney. Email your results to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. For information concerning participation in Ontario SwiftWatch, email Kathy Jones, Ontario Programs Volunteer Coordinator, [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Elisabeth van Stam, Ontario Program Biologist Bird Studies Canada 115 Front Street, P.O Box 160 Port Rowan, Ontario N0E 1M0 Phone: 519-586-3531 ext. 173 Toll Free: 888-448-2473 ext. 173 E-mail: [email protected] _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
