News and posts

Our first week of monitoring is in the bag! Based off of the reports I have received so far, it seems to me that not all of our Chimney Swifts have arrived back in Manitoba yet compared to numbers from past years. Perhaps they were/are delayed by the cool and wet weather that has dominated so far this spring.

That being said we did have swifts at a number of sites in Winnipeg and across Manitoba, and great weather for the first of our official monitoring nights. Read on below for details!

Frank and Jacquie Machovec visited Carmen on May 24^th to watch the chimney on Carman Memorial Hall. Most importantly they reported that Carman now has a Tim Hortons to grab coffee from before swift monitoring! Second most importantly they had a trio of birds periodically circling overhead before two birds went down the chimney from a shallow angle about 20 minutes after sunset (just kidding Frank and Jacquie were very happy to see swifts in Carmen!). They are fairly certain the third bird entered as well, but they did not have a great view of the birds entering from their location – so hard to get the ideal view! Frank also spotted a group of five swifts to the southeast about an hour before sunset. We had “bonus” swifts in Carmen last year too, where we were unsure where they were roosting, so I am unsurprised that this mystery continues. On the same day I also had a report from Rhonda Smith in Carman, who was able to confirm that she also saw three swifts in the same vicinity as Frank and Jacquie.

Luc Blanchette was also out monitoring on May 24^th but at the Church in St Jean Baptiste. He had up to six swifts  overhead, and two swifts down the chimney both entering shortly after one another around sunset. We will have to keep our eyes and ears open to determine where the “bonus” swifts in St Jean Baptiste are headed as well! Luc was also keeping his eyes and ears attuned to migrating Common Nighthawks, another aerial insectivore (like the Chimney Swift). He observed 87 individuals passing him by on the 24^th, impressive!

On May 25^th Frank and Jacquie were out monitoring again, but this time without a local Timmies, at St Joachim Church in La Broquerie. Here they watched two chimneys. The small chimney on the church had a swift enter at 9:19 pm, before exiting at 9:27 pm and then heading in for the night at 9:32 pm. The larger chimney on the church had two swifts enter at 9:27 pm and then one more swift enter at 9:39 pm. However, Frank and Jacquie saw six swifts in total overhead, meaning that they could only account for four of the six swifts in the area in the two chimneys. Did the last two swifts enter after it was too dark to see properly? Or is there another site in the area? MCSI doesn’t know of another site in La Broquerie currently.

In Brandon Glennis Lewis monitored for Chimney Swifts at the west chimney on the Orange Block building on May 25^th. She had no swifts seen or heard overhead or in the chimney – so likely no swifts in the north chimney on the building either. Crossing our fingers that migrating swifts just haven’t made it to Brandon yet this year – since both the Orange Block chimneys were very active last season!

In St Francois Xavier Michael and Michèle Tumber were back at their post at the Church in 2022 again. They had an interested evening with four swifts in the air, but only two down their chimney, so “bonus” swifts here too (bonus swifts for everyone this year!). Michèle mentioned that they know of one other chimney in town, so they are going to keep their eyes peeled for entries there.

The flood water had gone down enough for Barb and Rob Stewart to escape Isle Stewart during the day on May 25^th and head into St Adolphe. Barb noted four swifts over St Adolphe, which is one more than I saw on May 12th. Barb noted that likely not all pairs have arrived back yet. There were no signs of daytime entries that would signal nesting building had started in any of the known sites in town.

The Dauphin crew were also out monitoring on May 25^th. Ken Wainwright noted “Well, it got really overcast in Dauphin and the sky was almost black which made observations really hard but we managed to count 7 swifts go down the roost chimney. There was one bird that went in and out just at sunset until they decided to go down. There seemed to be at least 1 pair always flying together.” That one Chimney Swift just didn’t want you guys to get too bored watching the chimney! Similar to Luc’s sightings while monitoring in St Jean Baptiste, Common Nighthawks were also seen overhead in Dauphin.

Donna Milovitch is monitoring for us in both Winnipeg and Lac Du Bonnet, but we will start off with her adventures outside the city first. On May 26^th Donna monitored Casey’s Inn and Gran’s Bakery buildings in Lac du Bonnet. This is the first time both buildings have been watched in several years. Unfortunately, no swifts showed up in daytime monitoring periods yet, but we will keep watch to see if anyone arrives.

Moving to Winnipeg now, Jon Benson monitored the Waldorf Apartments chimney at 634 Broadway. Jon had a great first night of monitoring with up to six swifts in the air, and two entries into the chimney seven minutes after sunset.

On May 25^th Rudolf Koes monitored for Chimney Swifts at two sites near the Northdale Mall. At the Curtis Hotel chimney, he observed two swifts enter the chimney at 9:15 pm and just two minutes later two swifts went down the chimney at 1010 Brazier St. Earlier in the night Rudolf had seen eight swifts flying overhead, so he continued to watch past the two sets of entries. Good thing he did, as seven more swifts flew overhead at 9:28 pm heading east. The only site we know of east of Rudolf’s sites is Chief Peguis School – so if anyone wants to go check it out, you may find a roost of seven birds! If not, we have some unknown sites in the area.

Next, we move back to Donna’s daytime monitoring in Winnipeg. On May 18^th she observed the Carillon Apartments and the Marner Apartments in the St James neighbourhood. No swifts were seen or heard. Unfortunately, the no-swifts streak continued with her monitoring efforts on May 25^th with no swifts seen or heard at the Carillion Apartments, Marner Apartments, King’s Theatre/ Latinos Market and the Viscount Apartments. In an “average” year the Chimney Swifts have the possibility of nest building in this time period, so daytime activity is possible, but perhaps not yet with our weather this spring. It will be interesting at the end of this year to look back at the timings of each stage of the nesting process that we can glean from everyone’s monitoring efforts. Will they be comparable to the “average”? Or will nesting stages be pushed back later into the year?

Ariel Desrochers (our summer assistant, back for another round with us in 2022) watched the Roxy Lanes chimneys on the evening of May 25^th. No activity was seen in the white brick chimney on the side of the building, but three swifts entered the red brick chimney. Each swift entered the chimney almost 10 minutes apart with the first entry at 9:05 pm and the last entry at 9:27 pm, just after sunset.

Peter Douglas monitored at the St Anne’s RC Church on May 25^th. He had a single Chimney Swift fly over at 8:31 pm, but no sightings after that.

Blair Reid was also out on our first monitoring night. He was at 690 St Joseph St and had three swifts overhead, but only one entry into the chimney which occurred eight minutes after sunset.

I was watching the eastern-most chimney at the Silver Heights Apartments in St James on May 25^th. I had four swifts that were constantly swooping in and out of view from 8:12 pm to 9:10 pm. I thought they might all end up going down the Moorgate Apartment chimney (two apartments east from me) from their flight trajectories. After 9:10 pm activity really quieted down, but suddenly at 9:18 pm I had one swift enter my chimney fast, and another swift swoop down, but fly past the chimney. The other three swifts were not seen again.

Jo Swartz and Betsy Thorsteinson monitored the freshly renovated Assiniboine Park Zoo tower on Wednesday. They had three swifts periodically flying overhead, and a couple minutes before sunset two of the swifts entered the tower, while the third swift left and was not seen again. Jo mentioned she saw the Pileated Woodpecker – but thankfully not near the tower! Lots of other trees for it to choose from, rather than the Chimney Swift tower!

A great group of residents at the Old Grace Housing Co-op in Wolseley continue to work with Provincial Species at Risk Biologist Tim Poole this year to monitor for Chimney Swifts at that site. The Housing Co-op has a built-in Chimney Swift tower, but has not had swifts using it since it was built. This year they noted six swifts overhead (two sets seemingly paired up). Despite some swooping low down to the tower, they had no entries on May 25^th.

Jeope Wolfe possibly solved where one of the Wolseley pairs of swifts went. He saw four of the swifts (in two pairs) plus a fifth swift (seen only once) flying overhead on May 25^th. Two of the swifts ended up down the chimney he was watching at the Lothian Apartments (very close to the Housing Co-op). I wonder if the others are using the Fleetwood Apartment chimney in the neighbourhood? To be investigated!

Blaire Barta was watching the chimney at the Behavioral Health Foundation in St Norbert. She observed six swifts flying around all afternoon and evening but saw no entries or attempted entries into the chimney. Of the six swifts, there seemed to be two paired up. All swifts left the area around 9:30 pm. Our other known Chimney Swift site in St Norbert is the St Norbert Parish Church. This site does not currently have a monitor this year, so if anyone would like to drop by during the roosting hour, there may be action there and we’d love to know about it!

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And that is it for our first monitoring round-up of the season! As I mentioned we have a few Chimney Swift mysteries forming at unmonitored chimneys, as well as some priority chimneys that still need a volunteer monitor! So, if you or someone you know would like to watch a chimney mentioned above or in a chimney in Winnipeg-City Centre, Winnipeg- South Point Douglas, Winnipeg- St James, or Stonewall, Manitou or Portage la Prairie send me an email at mbchimneyswift@gmail.com.

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Otherwise, the upcoming monitoring schedule is:

Happy switch-watching!

NRMP Night #2 (monitors who watch the big roosts): Sunday, May 29^th

MCSI Night #2 (all other monitors): Wednesday, June 1^st

NRMP Night #3: Thursday, June 2^nd

• Amanda

“RULES OF FEATHER” FOR MONITORING CHIMNEY SWIFT NEST SITES.

IMPORTANT DATES, NUMBERS, AND THINGS TO EXPECT AS CHIMNEY SWIFTS ARRIVE, THEN TRANSITION TO NEST BUILDING.

Before launching into today’s blog, this is your friendly reminder that the 2022 MCSI program rolls out on Wednesday, May 25. We look forward to your reports of evening monitoring sessions at both roost and nest sites, and daytime monitoring of nest sites.

The 4-night National Roost Monitoring Program also starts up on May 25. MCSI supports this program by sharing our data with the national program organizers. We hope our contributions help improve the understanding of spring arrival and distribution dynamics of Chimney Swifts across Canada.

Amanda has sent out monitoring information – check the blog posted on May 3 (2022 Monitoring on the Horizon) for all the details. For an updated list of high priority sites that need status updates to confirm residency, check Amanda’s blog posted on May 18 (They Are Arriving! Chimney Swift Sightings and Priority Chimneys).

Many of you will be monitoring potential nest sites. The first 30 minutes of monitoring (in the 90-minute monitoring period) is actually considered “daytime” monitoring in the hopes that we may pick up some signs to determine if each site is being used for nesting or roosting (or both). Here are some general “Rules of Feather” to guide your journey of observation through the early stages of the breeding season…

ARRIVAL – around Mother’s Day, start looking for spring arriving Chimney Swifts.

The arrival stage is characterized by the first spring reports of Chimney Swifts. The birds may be identified by vocalizations or visual confirmation. You may hear the swift’s characteristic chittering or see small numbers of swifts foraging in the area of known roost or nest sites. Migrants are often first noted in many Manitoba communities on the same day.

Chimney Swifts will enter their sites, usually within ½ hour of sunset (½ hour before to ½ hour after sunset = the roosting hour), to rest for the night by clinging onto the rough interior walls. Sometimes roosting entries are made before the roosting hour and sometimes swifts are in the air and unaccounted for as total darkness descends.

Morning departures by roosting Chimney Swifts are thought to occur within ½ hour of sunrise (½ hour before to ½ hour after sunrise) in good weather conditions. Cold, rainy weather may delay morning egress.

The behaviour of Chimney Swifts must be interpreted in the context of what is going on in their environment. Chimney Swift behaviour doesn’t always follow textbook, black ‘n’ white rules. So, interpretation of behaviour is not always straightforward. We often see roosting entries before the official roosting hour during cold, rainy weather but those early roosting entries may also happen when local foraging seems very good and the weather is warm ‘n’ dry. We’d like to interview those swifts to explain themselves!

Not to be confused with breeding behaviour that involves daytime use of a chimney, Chimney Swifts may seek daytime refuge in their sites during inclement weather; this may be for short or long periods. I have seen Chimney Swifts enter the Church chimney in St Adolphe during intense thunder storms. Once the electricity finished after ~45 minutes, out popped the birds. From my notes made on May 30, 2017: “yesterday Tim saw ~70 CHSW enter Assiniboine School roost ~noon as he was onsite doing an outreach program… [today the weather is] clearing after 2 miserable cold (8-12 C) rainy BLEEP days with strong winds.” Those swifts likely hunkered down for several hours. Winnie Wake, our devoted colleague in London, ON, has noted similar daytime entries of Chimney Swifts at roost sites, which were associated with very poor weather. During times of refuge, Chimney Swifts have the capacity to enter a state of torpor which is a useful energy saving strategy.

NEST BUILDING – look for daytime entries and exits; Chimney Swifts will be at work in the morning, afternoon, and early evening.

In the latter half of May to early June, a breeding pair of Chimney Swifts will begin to gather small diameter twigs from the ends of dead tree branches. The twigs are taken into the chimney and glued together, with sticky saliva, to form a small cup-shaped nest. Approximately 1 week after nest construction begins, the structure is large enough to hold an egg. As eggs are being laid approximately every other day, nest building continues. Indeed, nest building will extend through to the end of incubation (more on that in the next blog). Once eggs hatch, adults focus their efforts on feeding their youngsters and nest building stops.

In St Adolphe, all successful breeding attempts had nest building underway by June 3-4. So, that is an important date for monitors to be aware of generally. Elsewhere in the province, successful nesting attempts may have had slightly later onsets of nest building, or perhaps a more protracted nest building phase. A Brandon site diligently monitored by Margaret & Millie had several late August fledging dates. Tim established the Provincial record last year as he tracked a breeding pair of swifts that took up residence in site 2021-T04, a newly constructed tower in the Selkirk Mental Health Centre. Nest building started just after the tower was constructed ~ June 18 and fledging took place ~ Sept. 9 (see blog Sept. 24, 2021 – Inside Story, Inside the Chimneys at St Adolphe, Assiniboine Park Zoo and Selkirk).

At your nest site, you may see a breeding pair approach the chimney together and drop in, one after the other. Or, the pair may approach together and as one bird drops in, the partner will veer off to circle and enter, or depart the area (to feed or gather nest material, etc.). Alternately, single birds may approach and enter the chimney. Chimney Swifts may fly low over the chimney vocalizing as they pass by. Single or two consecutive exits may follow after a time lag. The two important time intervals ~ duration-in (entry to exit) and between-visit (exit to entry) ~ which characterize different stages of nesting, are variable during nest building.

Not all approaches end up with an entry to the chimney. It is important to repeat the all-important caveat “interpret the bird’s behaviour in the context of what is happening in the Chimney Swift’s environment”. You should be aware of typical behaviour for a specific stage of nesting vs. behaviour that results from disturbance. If somebody is working on a rooftop and pops up like a Jack or Jill-in-the-box as a Chimney Swift approaches, you should not be surprised to see the bird veer off and avoid an entry!  

To recap the “Rules of Feather” for behaviour and activity seen during the Nest Building (+egg laying) stage: there is a lot of variability in the activity pattern at nest sites; daytime entries by a single Chimney Swift or a pair flying together will occur; 1-2 entries and exits per hour are made; and the duration-in/between-visit time intervals are variable.

For my next nest site update, I’ll review late nest building/egg laying behaviour and how to recognize the transition to incubation. Until then, try to get a handle on nest building efforts at your nest site by June 3-4.

The promise of spring is with us now – sunshine and higher temperatures are on their way. As Ken W. in Dauphin commented, the recent rains could ripen a super load of insects for the birds to feed on. As more Chimney Swifts move into Manitoba, the action will increase at your roost and nest sites and maybe at the insect repellant sales counter! We’ve had continued reports of Chimney Swifts in Winnipeg, as well as in Souris since our last blog post. Let us know what you observe!

“Stay Calm, Be Brave, Wait for the Signs” (Thomas King, Jasper Friendly Bear, and Gracie Heavyhand, Dead Dog Café).

— Barb, still swift-less on the Isle of Stewart in the flooded Red River Valley.

Chimney Swift Sightings and Priority Chimneys

They are arriving! Every day we are receiving sightings of Chimney Swifts in Manitoba. Our first report of swifts in the province was by Luc Blanchette in St Jean Baptiste on the afternoon of May 11th, shortly followed by Gerald Machnee in Selkirk that same evening.

Since then, I have had Chimney Swift reports in the Winnipeg neighbourhoods of River Heights, Tuxedo, St Vital, Wolseley, Island Lakes, North Kildonan and Fort Rouge. Thank you to Barbara and Phil Barnett, Nicole Firlotte, Randy Mooi, Tim Poole, Rudolf Koes and Christie McDonald for the reports. The Assiniboine Park Zoo staff have also seen Chimney Swifts overhead this past weekend.

Outside of Winnipeg, I also saw three swifts in the air while I was out doing last minute clean-out checks in St Adolphe last week and Dave Carleson has also seen Chimney Swifts in Dominion City.

With the swifts arriving MCSI is still looking for people to monitor some of our “priority chimneys” this year. The priority chimneys are chimneys that either 1) have not been watched since 2019 or 2) have not hosted swifts since 2019.

Monitoring of these priority chimneys is key as under the proposed Chimney Swift Recovery Strategy, chimneys that are in use by Chimney Swifts, or that have been in use by Chimney Swifts in the last three years will be protected as residences. Some of our priority chimneys already have volunteer monitors signed up – thank you!

We are still looking for volunteer monitors for the following priority chimneys outside of Winnipeg:

• Pembina Hills Arts Centre, Morden
• Harvest Moon Learning Centre, Clearwater
• St Andrews United Church, Manitou
• MTS Building, Portage la Prairie
• Trinity United Church, Portage la Prairie
• Victoria School (Red River College), Portage la Prairie
• Olina’s Jewels, Portage la Prairie
• Lagasse’s Studio of Fine Art, Souris
• St. Paul’s United Church, Souris
• Hillcrest Museum, Souris
• Kowalchuk’s Funeral Home, Souris
• Chocolate Shop Café, Souris
• Rock Shop, Souris
• Prairie Zen Massage, Stonewall
• VIA Rail Station, The Pas

And in Winnipeg we are looking for volunteers for the following sites:

• Brink’s Canada, City Centre
• Sky Bridge Americas, City Centre
• District Condominiums, City Centre
• Newcastle Apartments, City Centre
• Nutty Club Food Club, City Centre
• Victoria Court, City Centre
• Villa Fel Rodriguez, City Centre
• Western Paperbox Company Ltd. Warehouse, City Centre
• Bardal Funeral Home, City Centre
• Nejmark Architects, City Centre
• Gregg Building, City Centre
• Living Gospel Church, City Centre
• Immigrant Centre Building, City Centre
• House of Hesed, City Centre
• The Old Market Autonomous Zone, City Centre
• St John’s Cathedral, North End
• Ukrainian National Federation, North End
• Valhalla Gardens, North Kildonan
• Vita Foam, South Point Douglas
• Restmore Bedding Co Ltd, South Point Douglas
• New Silver Heights Apartments, St James
• King’s Theatre, St James
• Viscount Apartments, St James
• Essex House Apartments, St James
• Elan Designs and Upholstery, West End
• John Howard Society, West End
• Kildonan United Church, West Kildonan
• The Lothian Block Apartments, Wolseley

If you are someone who likes to move between sites (rather than watch at one site each week) then monitoring a different priority chimney each week might be the role for you! If you’d like to chose one priority chimney and monitor it each week, we can also set that up for you as well.

We start our official monitoring period next week (Wednesday, May 25^th), so I am looking forward to see what everyone observes! If you would like to start watching swifts earlier than that feel free to send your observations to mbchimneyswift@gmail.com.

• Amanda

A SOGGY VARIATION OF NO-MOW MAY IS LINKED TO CHIMNEY SWIFT MONITORING! WHO KNEW?

In our area of the Red River valley south of Winnipeg, as is the case in many other locations in Manitoba this spring, there will be a huge variation of the no-mow May routine. Roads and yards and fields are underwater. We are happy to have the newly arrived Canada Geese pluck the sprouting grass from the exposed portions of our flood-protected hill. Sadly, farmers dealing with flood waters inundating fields face a no-sow spring. While the current boating season interferes with our personal start to the ‘22 Chimney Swift monitoring season, we’re lucky to have Amanda & Tim & Jo step in and help out with the spring to-do list in St Adolphe and Lower Fort Garry.

For all of you mobile monitors, particularly those of you who will track nest sites, here’s the check list to get underway (not all points are applicable to all folks):

1. Ensure chimneys are sealed except for the top opening. Chimney Swifts fall victim to light seduction – they are drawn out of chimney shafts by daylight seen through old, exposed duct work or open bottomed hearths etc.
2. Close your damper(s); keep a screen in place in front of the fire box.
3. Block/plug any gaps or cracks in the chimney masonry.
4. Seal and secure any openings e.g., face plates for old duct work.
5. Block access to ash pits located below the fire box.
6. Close doors to the cleanout trap(s).

• Familiarize yourself with the MCSI protocols for monitoring and save the dates that Amanda has sent you for the NRMP and MCSI programs  https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/news-and-posts/ ; May 3^rd – 2022 Monitoring on the Horizon.

• Consider extra monitoring to establish arrival dates. To know when the Chimney Swifts arrive, we need to know when they aren’t here! Those precious “0”, zero, nada, naught, zip, zilch counts from early-days monitoring helps establish the absence of swifts. It is often cold and usually tedious monitoring to see nothing, but it is all so valuable to narrow the window of true arrival.

• Arriving Chimney Swifts will feed locally and rest for the night in chimneys – at roost and nest sites. Depending on arrival dates, weather conditions, and insect availability etc., a breeding pair laying claim to a nest site may only use the chimney for roosting for a few days or weeks (e.g., in the spring of 2021, St. Adolphe swifts arrived May 14^th but did not nest build until May 27-June 4).

• Nest building is defined by daytime use (entries/exits).

Once your reports of arriving Chimney Swifts start flowing in to Amanda, we’ll review behaviour seen during the nest building stage. Good luck in the days and nights ahead,

— Barb

Although it may not feel like it, spring is (SLOWLY) on its way, and so are the Chimney Swifts. The Chimney Swifts are currently stalled just a bit south of us with the northern-most edge of their migration just reaching into Minnesota. The northern states have been facing similar weather challenges to Manitoba, so the weather likely has not helped! That being said, the majority of “our” Chimney Swifts in Manitoba typically don’t arrive until mid to late May, regardless of our spring weather. When you start seeing Chimney Swifts please report to MCSI, we’d love to know!

Chimney Swift sightings in April 2022 from eBird.org. Each purple rectangle is at least one Chimney Swift.

With the 2022 Chimney Swift season approaching, we’ve been working to finalize our monitoring season plans. For most sites monitoring will start on Wednesday, May 25^th and continue on Wednesday each week until June 22^nd(rain dates are Thursdays each week). By the end of June, we should be able to determine if the Chimney Swifts have made a nesting attempt in a monitored chimney, or if they were using the chimney as a roost site only.

With the federal Chimney Swift Recovery Strategy (currently in draft form) coming out in 2022, there is an opportunity to protect the chimneys used by Chimney Swifts (called “residences”). For a chimney to be a residence it has to have hosted Chimney Swifts at least once in the last three years. As a result, we have combed our database and made a list of sites that either have not been monitored for the past three years, or have not had a swift spotted in three years. These sites are a high priority for monitoring this year. If you are interested in being able to make a big difference in habitat protection for Chimney Swifts, please consider monitoring one of the priority sites! Priority sites are in the towns, and Winnipeg neighbourhoods listed below. Contact the MCSI coordinator (Amanda) at mbchimneyswift@gmail.com for specific locations.

• Lac du Bonnet                                                                   
• Manitou
• Morden                                                                              
• Portage la Prairie
• Souris                                                                                 
• Stonewall
• The Pas                                                                               
• Winnipeg – City Centre
• Winnipeg – East and West Kildonan              
• Winnipeg – Fort Garry
• Winnipeg – Fort Rouge                                                   
• Winnipeg- South Point Douglas
• Winnipeg – St James                                                        
• Winnipeg – West End

For the larger roost chimneys, we will also be conducting the National Roost Monitoring Protocol (NRMP). This protocol is followed throughout Canada, where the Canadian Wildlife Service collects data on roosting chimneys that host four or more Chimney Swifts. This monitoring happens every four days for a two-week period (rather than once a week). NRMP nights are on May 25^th, May 29^th, June 2^nd and June 6^th. For NRMP nights we are particularly looking for volunteers to watch the sites below:

• Carman Memorial Hall, Carman
• St Paul’s United Church, Souris
• 5000 Crescent Road West (Rufus Prince Building), Portage la Prairie
• Ecole Assiniboine School in St James, Winnipeg
• 2187 Portage Avenue (Moorgate Apartments) in St James, Winnipeg
• 424 River Avenue (River Manor Apartment) in Fort Rouge, Winnipeg

NRMP nights and the MCSI nights follow the same monitoring protocol (other than the dates the monitoring takes place) as well as the same data sheet. We ask that volunteers watch their site starting from 60 minutes before sunset until 30 minutes after sunset (90 minutes total). In that time volunteers record numbers of swifts seen in the air, as well as the time and number of swifts that enter and exit the chimney. For more details on how we monitor swifts, and the datasheet we use, you can find our 2022 protocol and data sheet at the following links:

2022 Monitoring Protocol (pdf)

2022 Data Sheet (pdf)

2022 Data Sheet (Word)

If you are looking for a chimney to monitor in your neighbourhood or are willing to travel to a site, send an email to myself (Amanda) at mbchimneyswift@gmail.com and I would be happy match you with a monitoring site. We have more chimneys than monitors each year, and we’d love to have you join our effort to help the Chimney Swift.

• Amanda

With the spring arrival of the Chimney Swifts approaching, MCSI presents our last (but certainly not least), Chimney Swift Champion of 2021-2022 – Shawn Charlebois!

Back in summer 2020 one of our Steering Committee members, Ken De Smet was in Swan River. While out and about on Main St, Ken just happened to see a Chimney Swift enter a chimney in a commercial building! This incidental sighting is the first sighting of Chimney Swifts we’ve had in Swan River, and the second most northern sighting in MCSI history (the other was in The Pas). We notice that the chimney could use some repair, so we went about tracking down the owner of the chimney who turned out to be Shawn.

Shawn was pleased to know that the chimney was supporting habitat for a threatened species and was enthusiastic that we could both repair the chimney and protect bird habitat at the same time! Since then, he has distributed various Chimney Swift factsheets for outreach around Swan River. Additionally, Shawn is the first recipient of our new outdoor Chimney Swift Champions sign. This sign is able to be mounted outside on buildings, both to highlight the work of our Chimney Swift Champions and provide a public outreach opportunity right at the site of chimney.

MCSI sends a big thank you to Shawn for providing Chimney Swift habitat and outreach opportunities in Swan River!

• Amanda Shave

On Wednesday, March 23^rd Amanda presented MCSI’s Chimney Swift Champion plaque to staff at the Smith Agency, a Winnipeg-based property management company. The plaque was to recognize their work in the conservation of Chimney Swift habitat on an apartment roof in downtown Winnipeg.

Stuart Plant of the Smith Agency accepting the MCSI Chimney Swift Champion award.

The Smith Agency operates several buildings that are home to Chimney Swifts in Manitoba. Of particular interest in the summer of 2021 was the Scarsdale Apartments at 71 Kennedy Street. The chimney on this building has been on MCSI’s radar for Chimney Swifts for more than a decade.

In spring 2021 we a volunteer noted that that the chimney on the Scarsdale Apartments had a pest cage installed. Once the Smith Agency was contacted about a threatened species using that chimney, they acted very quickly to ensure habitat was available for the swifts! In many cases work such as capping or caging of chimneys happens with management and/or contractors simply not aware that swifts are using the chimney. Once notified Smith Agency were able to mitigate the impact to the Chimney Swifts by opening a second chimney on the building, which was previously inaccessible to the swifts due to a pest cage. MCSI monitored the site after the mitigation in June and swifts were seen entering and exiting the newly un-caged chimney during the day (possibly nesting), and also roosting at night. A great success story.

 A big thank you the Smith Agency for their “swift” response and environmental stewardship for the Chimney Swift!

• Amanda

During our 2021 Chimney Swift monitoring season blog updates you may have been following the saga of the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower versus the Pileated Woodpecker(s).

This tower was originally erected in 2015 at the site of the Old Grace Hospital in Wolseley to mitigate the impact on swift habitat when the large chimney was removed. Once the Old Grace Housing Co-op was constructed (with a built-in artificial chimney) the tower was moved to the Assiniboine Park Zoo in 2018. Chimney Swifts seemed to be checking out the tower in the fall of 2019, and moved in the year after, with successful nesting each year since. It is the first successful artificial Chimney Swift tower in Manitoba.

However, we’ve also had a neighbouring bird using the artificial tower, one that the tower was not designed for. Large holes (fist-size or larger) were being pecked into the chimney by Pileated Woodpecker(s). The artificial chimney is a large, brown, hollow, wooden structure, so it is not surprising in hindsight that it was attractive to the woodpeckers. We are not sure if they use it as a good place for territorial drumming, are looking for food, or were using the site as a cavity (a woodpecker was seen exiting from a hole once by a Chimney Swift monitor in 2021) or a mixture of the above.

The culprit in action! Note the previously applied patch to a second hole just to the right of the Pileated Woodpecker and the current cavity. Photo by Evelien de Greef.

While we would love to provide habitat to all birds, the tower was not designed for this purpose, and the inside of the tower was not made to be exposed to the elements. Zoo staff tried repairing the holes with no success, as the woodpecker would just make new ones. At one point we were up to 4-5 large holes, with no end to the woodpecker’s interest! As anyone who has had woodpeckers interested in their house siding, fences, etc. can attest, there are no full proof deterrents.

Enter the artificial Chimney Swift towers that were built at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre as mitigation for removal of Chimney Swift habitat. These artificial towers were modeled after the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower, but clad in metal siding. Having seen the success of these new towers – an idea was formed to replace the wood siding of the Zoo tower, with this metal cladding!

Through the MCSI’s Habitat Stewardship Program and Bluebird Fund and Assiniboine Park Zoo’s Wildlife Conservation Fund we were able to come up with the funding to replace the siding this spring. With the Zoo managing the logistical side, snow was cleared away from the tower in the first week of March, with contractors removing the old wood cladding and replacing it with metal cladding in the last two weeks. The Chimney Swift home makeover is now complete and look at the difference! With this renovation we expect the tower to provide valuable nesting habitat for many years to come.

Assiniboine Park Zoo artificial chimney before (left) and after (right) recladding. Photos provided by Assiniboine Park Zoo.

We timed the construction to happen before the swifts came back, of course, but to also take place before the Pileated Woodpecker nesting season. With the abundance of trees available to them in Assiniboine Park, we are confident that they can find a new and improved home in the neighbourhood as well.

— Amanda

February 2^nd, 2022 is World Wetlands Day! While wetlands are not our usual topic on the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative blog. I thought that this important habitat and food source for Chimney Swifts should get a little time in the spotlight.

We know that Chimney Swifts need their masonry chimneys for roosting and nesting, but another important requirement is the insects that form the diet of the Chimney Swift. Chimney Swifts are aerial insectivores, a group of birds that are classified together because they all catch and eat insects while on the wing. Other aerial insectivores include Purple Martins and other types of swallows.

While not all the insects that Chimney Swifts eat come from wetlands, many of the insects that fly as adults have aquatic larval stages. Most insects with aquatic larval stages want still, shallow, warm water. This can be as simple as an old tire in a yard that a mosquito lays eggs in, but other insects can use wetlands. Insects with aquatic larval stages that may be eaten by Swifts include the Dragonfly and Damselfly families (Spreadwings, Pond Damsels, Darners, Clubtails, Emeralds and Skimmers), Mosquitos, Midges, Mayflies, Caddisflies and Crane flies. Chimney Swifts also need a lot of this food, eating over 1,000 mosquitoes and other flying insects per day!

Wetlands come in a variety of forms and can be temporary (often from our spring snowmelt, drying up over the summer) or permanent. We have several urban wetlands in Manitoba that you may know including in Fort Whyte Alive, Assiniboine Forest, or Bois-des-Esprits in Winnipeg; the Riverbank Discovery Centre in Brandon; or areas of Crescent Park in Portage la Prairie to name a few. Additionally, using naturalized wetlands is becoming more common in new residential developments, rather than the traditional retention pond surrounded by grass. Urban wetlands are often small and locally known – what urban wetlands are around you?

Insects that hatch in wetlands, or use water as part of their life stages, do not always have to stick near water as adults either! Home range studies of a variety of dragonflies showed travel distances from their natal sites to their adult home ranges between 481 -1196 meters, and home ranges of between 5-50 hectares (both measurements depend on the species with a lot of variation).

Working to monitor Chimneys Swifts, and to protect and repair chimneys is key for Swift populations – and gives us a really good target to work towards. However, like many other Species at Risk, Chimney Swifts are threatened due to a number of factors that are interrelated. By increasing our knowledge about and conserving wetlands, we can help our local Chimney Swifts have a successful nesting season with us!

• Amanda

The Winter Solstice is upon us. The longest night of the year will now give way to increasing daylight hours. From this turning point, we will eventually herald the spring arrival of our Chimney Swifts. 

There is much to look forward to. We look forward to having you join us in 2022 for an action packed season of monitoring, outreach, habitat restoration, and research. 

As you celebrate the festive season in your traditional way, all of us at MCSI wish you the best of health, happiness, and fellowship. Remember, “the only constant in life is change” (Heraclitus, Greek Philosopher)…so we will navigate the changes and challenges ahead, one brightening day at a time.

All the best from the MCSI team,

Christian Artuso (Co-Chair), Ron Bazin, Laura Burns, Neil Butchard, Lewis Cocks, Jack Dubois, Ken DeSmet, Nicole Firlotte, Frank Machovec (Webmaster), Tim Poole (Co-Chair), Amanda Shave (Co-ordinator), Barb Stewart, Rob Stewart, Joanne Tuckwell, Ashleigh Westphal.