The Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative was initiated in 2006 by a group of volunteers concerned for the future of Manitoba’s declining swift population. Since those early days, the initiative has depended on contributions from numerous volunteers contributing to all our activities, whether monitoring, outreach or stewardship.
Factsheet : ‘ Volunteer for the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative’. This two-page pamphlet describes various ways that you can assist with our project.
How you can get involved!
The MCSI is a volunteer-based, citizen-science bird and habitat monitoring program for Manitoba’s Chimney Swfits.
This program offers everyone – from amateur naturalists to professional biologists – a unique and rewarding opportunity to contribute locally to national and provincial monitoring programs for the Chimney Swift! In Manitoba, there are several ways that you can get involved.
Priority Areas
Chimney Swifts are widespread in towns and cities in southern Manitoba. In some areas we have good existing volunteer coverage, in some we have some excellent volunteers – but they can always do with some additional assistance, and there are other areas for which we have limited coverage and could really do with some new volunteers.
Towns and cities where we would love to find some local volunteers to monitor Chimney Swift sites are:
- Clearwater
- La Salle
- Manitou
- Melita
- Morden
- Otterburne
- Powerview-Pine Falls
- Portage la Prairie
- Saint-Anne
- Souris
- Southport
- Steinbach
- Stonewall
- The Pas
- Winnipeg – Fort Rouge (South Osborne, Osborne Village, Corydon)
- Winnipeg – Downtown (South Point Douglas, Exchange District, Assiniboine River area, West End)
- Winnipeg – East Kildonan
- Winnipeg – Fort Garry
- Winnipeg – North End
- Winnipeg – St Boniface
- Winnipeg – St James
- Winnipeg – St Vital
- Winnipeg – Wolseley
VOLUNTEER JOB DESCRIPTIONS
Roost Monitoring Volunteers
MCSI participates in the National Roost Monitoring Program, organized by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). Each summer, ECCC designates four evenings, four evenings apart, in late May and early June for monitoring. You will be joining hundreds of volunteers in the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario by volunteering to do this. In Manitoba we also set our own additional dates either side of the four night period to determine whether swifts are exhibiting nesting behavior or not. Monitoring begins one hour before sunset (time differs for different areas) and monitor the number of swifts entering and exiting the chimney until 30 minutes after sunset.
If possible, we ask that volunteers try to commit to all four nights at a minimum, but we know this is not always possible and are grateful for any night that a chimney is monitored. We also welcome any monitoring committed on other nights throughout the season.
Monitoring on designated nights
See Resources and Links page for current protocol and monitoring sheets
Tasks involved:
1) Bird Monitoring
Monitor chimney for the four night NRMP and additional MCSI monitoring nights following the current monitoring protocol
Work with other MCSI volunteers in your area to cover all available sites
2) Reporting
Submit bird count data after each monitoring trip to mbchimneyswift@gmail.com using the form available to record your data
Time Commitment: two to twelve hours/year
Roving monitoring
Roving monitors are citizen scientists who would like the flexibility to observe and count birds in different chimneys throughout migration and breeding seasons. Often this might involve monitoring nest sites during daylight hours, especially from late June to mid-August, the period between hatching and fledging.
See Resources and Links page for current protocol and monitoring sheets
Tasks Involved:
1) Bird Monitoring
Observe chimneys at any time using the current monitoring protocol
2) Reporting
Submit bird count data after each monitoring trip to mbchimneyswift@gmail.com using the form available to record your data
Time Commitment: minimum of one visit to a site at any time from May to August
Outreach and Stewardship Volunteers
There is always a need for help in each local area with outreach and stewardship activities. This might include:
- Monitoring condition of the chimney and completing chimney condition forms sending these back to mbchimneyswift@gmail.com;
- Identifying chimneys for the restoration program;
- Providing a link between the MCSI Coordinator and local building owners, handing out fact sheets and promoting the program within your local community;
- Delivering presentations and talks to local interest groups;
- Identifying potential recipients of Chimney Swift Champion plaques;
- Help to develop outreach materials including those for school groups and community groups;
- Provide technical assistance for Chimney Swift cameras and assist with editing online material
- Provide videos and photographs to MCSI to be used in outreach and promotional activities.
For more information:
Our project coordinator may be contacted at mbchimneyswift@gmail.com or by phoning the Nature Manitoba office at 204 943-9029