Chimney Swift Photo: Ron d’Entremont
The 2018 SwiftWatch season is rapidly approaching as Chimney Swifts make their long migration north from South America. Citizen Scientists in Bird Studies Canada’s SwiftWatch program fill critical information gaps by monitoring and acting as stewards for Chimney Swifts and their habitat. Each year, volunteers and community members identify and monitor chimneys being used by swifts between May and September. This information helps us track Chimney Swift populations in Canada, and guides conservation efforts.
Volunteers are especially needed to count swifts at roost chimneys on designated 2018 National Roost Monitoring dates: May 17 (optional), May 23, May 27, May 31, and June 4. For more information or to sign up to monitor a chimney in Ontario or the Maritimes, contact our SwiftWatch coordinators. To learn about swift counts and stewardship in other areas, contact the coordinators for Québec (celine.maurice@ec.gc.ca) or Manitoba (mbchimneyswift@gmail.com). And don’t forget to send us your swift sightings from anywhere in Canada at any time of the year!
Do you have Chimney Swifts in your chimney? We’d love to hear from you! Landowners play a key role in conserving this species. For more information on hosting swifts, check out our resources.
As always, a sincere thank-you is due to the many volunteers, partners, and supporters who make SwiftWatch possible. Note that the 2017-18 volume of the Maritimes SwiftWatch newsletter is now available. And look for inspiring stories celebrating achievements of Maritimes SwiftWatch, coming soon in the Spring issue of BirdWatch Canada!
In Ontario, SwiftWatch has been undertaken with financial support from the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.
In Atlantic Canada, SwiftWatch has been undertaken with financial support from Environment and Climate Change Canada, Nova Scotia Habitat Conservation Fund, New Brunswick Wildlife Trust Fund, TD Friends of the Environment, and Graham and Susan Smith.
