We are pleased to share that for the months of Feb. & March 2023 The Messenger documentary will be streaming on the HotDocs.ca “Hot Docs at Home” platform. You can watch the trailer here. Or go to HotDocs at home here and scroll down to the series “Around the World with Ontario Filmmakers” / The Messenger
Enjoy!
UPDATE: Feb. 2022. In the fall of 2021 the inside of the replacement habitat chimney was inspected. (There is a special hatch door in the design at the bottom of the chimney for this purpose.) One nest was observed on the side of the chimney eight feet from chimney base, and two half eggshells were observed at the base of the chimney under the nest. The conclusion is that it appears the chimney is successful in providing habitat for producing more young. This is great news, because, as far as we know, this is the second replacement chimney structure in the province Ontario to have confirmed nesting activity.
UPDATE: July 2021. Swift (multiple swifts) interest and activity has been documented around the chimney. Confirmed at least two birds overnight in the chimney, possibly this pair is nesting.
When the celebrated Toronto firm Kohn Shnier Architects was awarded the contract to build a new school for the Toronto Catholic District School Board in Toronto’s Christie Pits neighborhood, they didn’t expected that the first ‘shovel in the ground’ would be for the neighborhoods special seasonal resident, the Chimney Swift.
Chimney Swifts are among the finest aerial insectivore acrobats in the bird world.
During the day they are often seen in small groups, chittering and circling high in the sky. Often mistaken for bats, they swoop and dive with open beaks scooping up insects all day long. You’ll never see a Chimney Swift perching on a branch or at a bird feeder. In fact, they can’t perch, as their long claws are designed to cling to vertical surfaces. Amazing yes, but this also limits where they can find suitable places to nest, and like other aerial insectivores, Chimney Swifts are in decline.
One of the main problems this bird is facing is a biggie — loss of habitat. A few hundred years ago they lived primarily on cliff faces or in hollow trees, but when we colonizers altered the landscape to make way for civilization these birds had nowhere to go. Interestingly, they adapted to the new world by choosing to nest in something that to them, possibly, resembled the hollowed tree cavities in their old stomping grounds: chimneys. Now Chimney Swifts are listed as threatened under the Ontario Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Before building the new school, the old school had to be torn down. Demolition was set to begin when a notice came from Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) stating that the school was a known habitat for Chimney Swifts. The news came as a surprise to architect Marty Kohn, “We received notice from MNR indicating that we had to go through an investigation.” Ultimately, the demolition was postponed and could not proceed until replacement habitat was built.
With city permits in hand, demolition was set to begin when a notice came from Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) stating that the school was a known habitat for Chimney Swifts.
Although the MNRF offers minimum requirements for building new habitat it’s up to the architects or developer to come up with the final engineering and design. Fortunately for the Swifts Marty was on their team. Marty discovered that about fifty Swift towers have been built in Ontario. Twenty were masonry constructions, the rest were timber. Unfortunately, none of the timber structures have been occupied by Swifts, and of the remaining masonry towers, only one has resident Swifts. So, masonry it would be.
The resulting free-standing chimney is a wonder to behold.
Towering 10 meters high, the stand-alone chimney is set apart from where the new school building is to be constructed. The exterior is clad in white brick to match the overall project design. Under the brick is a layer of insulation, then a cinder block structure. The exterior brick is pointed, while the interior has rough mortar joints, making it suitable for nesting. The opening is the recommended 35mm wide, enough to allow access for the Chimney Swifts. The structure also has a vent for airflow and a small access door, allowing for annual maintenance and for monitoring the temperature. The cost was $125,000.
When the building is completed, on-site information on Chimney Swifts will be available, and the school can become involved in monitoring activities.
On the whole, awareness of Chimney Swift habitat is extremely low, not just among the general public, but also among urban planners and developers and building owners. Given the rate at which old chimneys are being capped or demolished, it would be beneficial if there were more builders following the lead of Kohn Shnier Architects. It would certainly be helpful for developers to be informed of the MNRF regulation in advance so they could plan and budget accordingly.
It is interesting to note that in the spring 2018, the newly elected Ontario Government moved Species at Risk from MNRF to the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP). It’s unclear if MNRF still has a role to play in the implementation of the ESA as MECP has little operational presence across Ontario. Importantly, in order for the MNRF to act to protect Chimney Swift habitat, they rely on reports from citizen scientists who monitor and participate in Swift Watch groups.
Around the world animal habitats continue to shrink as human population increases.
In the case of Chimney Swifts, after its original habitat disappeared they adapted to chimneys, but now these are disappearing too. While many nesting sites remain in the downtown areas where there is a greater concentration of older low-rise buildings, these are now being replaced with condos and new developments, leaving many demolished chimneys in their wake.
Can we, with our modern ways of living find better ways to share our habitat with our animal companions?
Soon this idea will put to the test. Chimney Swifts are impressive migrants, wintering in South America and returning to eastern North America in the spring. And this year, we will be watching! The hope is that these threatened birds will rest and roost in the new tower and ultimately a pair will successfully nest and raise the next generation.
If you happen to be at the north end of Christie Pits on Barton Avenue twenty minutes before or after sunset please watch the new tower! Share your swift sightings with ebird or another citizen science app, and with @BirdsCanada (OntarioSwiftWatch@birdscanada.org) and @SongbirdSOSfilm. If you want to know more about spotting Chimney Swifts this spring and summer, we will be posting more in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned!
Note: The official Birds Canada Swift Watch is canceled due COVID-19. But you may be surprised what you can see from your own back window, patio or roof deck.
by Mark Bell & Su Rynard, special thanks to Marty Kohn
by Mark Bell
So, let me guess…
So, let me guess… you had been planning a once-in-a-life-time nature safari this summer to explore the hidden secrets of the Amazon rain forest of northern Peru, right? And then an unexpected global pandemic put those plans on hold and now you’re stuck at home staring out your kitchen window and you’re feeling isolated, not just from your fellow humans, but from the natural world. Am I close? Well, I’ve got great news for you, Nature is about to save you the trip to Peru and instead will be parading past your window in the coming weeks and throughout the summer months. Lucky you!
Hundreds of species of birds migrate from South and Central America on their way up to Canada’s Boreal forest, but I’d like to bring your attention to one species in particular that is summering alongside those of us who live in cities and small towns in the central and eastern states from Texas up to Minnesota and into southern Ontario and Quebec and out to the Maritime Provinces and states along the eastern seaboard. Unlike migratory birds that you will only see in passing during the migration season, the Chimney Swift will be staying close to home, close to your home.
Much like humans, Chimney Swifts have adapted their way of life to live mostly in cities and towns rather than forests. Who wants to live in a rotten old tree when there’s a perfectly good apartment building waiting for you? But unlike humans, the overall population of Swifts has dropped dramatically over the years. So much so that they are now considered a species at risk in many regions.
All birds are pretty spectacular when you get to know them, but the Chimney Swift has superpowers beyond the scope of most species.
All birds are pretty spectacular when you get to know them, but the Chimney Swift has superpowers beyond the scope of most species. First of all, they don’t spend any time on the ground. Unless it’s nesting season, these birds take flight in the morning after sunrise and they won’t land again until sunset. They are areal insectivores, so they take their breakfast, lunch and dinner on the fly, literally. There’s no hopping around looking for worms, or grabbing a bite at the feeder, no splashing about in birdbaths and certainly none of this bird-on-a-wire stuff. Swifts are up in the sky gathering food all day long. But don’t think that Chimney Swifts are all work and no play. More than most birds, the Swifts are community oriented, so you will often see them flying in small groups, sometimes in formation like tiny, feathered fighter jets. The constant chittering sound that they emit is probably some kind of air traffic control (“On your left! On your left!), but to our ears sounds more like the gleeful chatter of passing school kids on a Friday afternoon. (Remember when children used to go to school?) They really sound like they’re having a good time.
If you want to see a Chimney Swift, there’s a good chance that if you live in a city, all you need to do is tilt your head and look up in the sky and wait.
If you want to see a Chimney Swift, there’s a good chance that if you live in a city, all you need to do is tilt your head and look up in the sky and wait. If you see some Starling-sized birds making erratic bat-like movements, those are probably Chimney Swifts. You’ll know because you’ll be able to hear them chattering to one another. But if you want to see a Chimney Swift perform a magic trick that no other species can do, a miracle so beautiful and profound that you’ll half expect David Attenborough to show up and pontificate, well, for that you’ll need a bit of patience. And a chimney.
Not just any chimney will do, you’ll want to find one with good swift-potential.
Not just any chimney will do, you’ll want to find one with good swift-potential. The best place to start is an old church, a school or an older industrial building. Swifts need a certain amount of clearance inside the flue, so although they sometimes resort to small residential chimneys, they prefer the wider, more industrial kind. And if a chimney has a metal liner poking up, forget about it, Swifts prefer exposed-brick interiors. Also, if there are too many trees or other obstructions close to the chimney, that’s another deal-breaker; they’ll only settle for uninterrupted access.
Timing is everything. Within 15 minutes on either side of sunset is when the Swifts are most likely to enter the chimney they are occupying.
Timing is everything. Within 15 minutes on either side of sunset is when the Swifts are most likely to enter the chimney they are occupying. So don’t bother with the other 23 and a half hours of the day, but for that one half hour, keep your eye on the chimney. Stand where you can see it clearly silhouetted against the sky. Sometimes there will be a few fly-overs in the minutes leading up to their dramatic entrance, but more often than not they’ll appear out of nowhere. It often happens so fast you might be left thinking: “did I actually see what I think I just saw?” If you’re lucky, you might see one or two Swifts entering a chimney. But if you are REALLY lucky, you might encounter a roost, where dozens or even hundreds of Swifts will enter a single chimney. Bearing witness to such a beautiful phenomenon just might change your life.
Sadly, due to Covid-19, it is not possible right now to register your sightings on some of the conservation websites that are working to track these endangered birds such as the SwiftWatch program organized by Birds Canada. (although it is still a great resource for information on Swifts). https://www.birdscanada.org/bird-science/swiftwatch/
But eventually things will open up again, and you’ll be able to contribute your citizen science data there or locally where ever you live. In the meantime, there are other useful apps such as iNaturalist or eBird where you can register your findings. Or, you can simply look up and enjoy the show.
Mark Bell
First of all…a confession: I’m not much of a birder. Robins, House Sparrows, Cardinals, no problem, but beyond that I am not to be trusted.
So it was a bit of a surprise even to myself when I recently became obsessed with my local population of Chimney Swifts. I noticed them one evening around dusk in my Parkdale neighbourhood in downtown Toronto. Their bat-like movements and constant chittering intrigued me and it didn’t take much research for even me to make a positive I.D.
These aerial insectivores spend pretty much all their waking hours in the sky collecting small insects and any other aerial plankton that might be swirling in the air above our heads. You will never see a Chimney Swift land in your backyard, or on your feeder, you will not even see one perching on a branch or on a wire. These birds are in constant motion, and when they are not in flight they retreat to the inner safety of their chosen chimney. So while these city-dwelling birds are easy to spot, they are almost impossible to really see.
Originally they would have lived in the old-growth forests where dead, hollowed out trees provided the sort of deep, protected nesting locations they favour. Ever since we cut down our older forests the Swifts have learned to adapt to the concrete jungles we have built in their place. The architecture of most chimneys mimics the hollow trees they were used to and they can easily cling to and build their nests on the rough brick interiors of these chimneys.
Sadly for Chimney Swifts, the current trend in new construction does not allow for large (or even small) open chimneys, and even older buildings are starting to cap existing chimneys or line them with metal to make them more fire-safe, measures that prevent Swifts from nesting there.
I live in the Parkdale section of Toronto which is blessed with some lovely old buildings from an era when industry once flourished alongside residential areas. The prevalence of older industrial buildings (and their chimneys) in this part of town probably explains why the aerial gymnastics of Chimney Swifts are on constant display here during the summer months.
Of all the species of songbirds, it is the aerial insectivores that are having the most difficulty in recent years. Many of these are at critically low population counts with some, like the Chimney Swift, down by 95% since 1968. There are many factors involved in this pattern of decline, and in all likelihood, this constant and gradual disappearance of housing opportunities is a contributing factor.
For a city-dweller such as myself, one of the extraordinary things about the Chimney Swift is that I don’t need to travel to the Boreal Forest to catch a glimpse of this rare bird. It can be as easy as sitting on my deck with a coffee, staring up into the sky.
And with only a minimum amount of effort I can take my observations one step further and contribute my data to the Bird Studies Canada SwiftWatch database. Because these birds are in such serious decline, the data that citizen scientists can contribute is of tremendous importance. Gathering information on their numbers and nesting locations helps to keep track of their population and overall health.
Swifts are incredibly elusive, but they have one behavioral trait that is predictable: within 20 minutes before or after sunset they will come home to roost for the night in their chosen chimney.
As a Swift-watcher all I have to do is stake out a chimney in my neighbourhood around sunset and watch to see how many, if any, enter the chimney. You might think staring up a chimney for half an hour might be boring, but there is an unbelievable rush of satisfaction when you are lucky enough to witness a Swift entering a chimney. These birds are incredibly agile and as they swoop and dive they can reach remarkable speeds as they race back and forth collecting dinner in their open beaks, but when they decide to call it a night they will glide over their chimney and for a split-second appear to pause in midair, before dropping themselves down, disappearing into the opening of the chimney. Some go headfirst, others perform a twisting sort of pirouette to slow their entry, others go feet first, but each entry is as elegant as it is mysterious.
I’ve been observing these birds since the Spring. I’ve watched them pair up and take nesting material to their chimneys. (They have a one-nest-per-chimney rule, regardless of how big the chimney is). I’ve seen them making more frequent visits later in the summer, presumably to feed their newly hatched fledglings. I’ve seen families flying in formation in what I can only assume is a kind of flight school for young Swifts. At the end of September I’ve seen them abandon their individual chimneys in favour of group living as they congregate in large groups in a single chimney in preparation for their annual migration to South America. And finally, I made my last observation of a local chimney where a few days earlier I had counted 37 swifts entering. The chimney now stood empty. Sad to see them go, but of course I wish them a swift journey south (they probably hear that one all the time) and I’m already looking forward to their return in April.
Bird Studies Canada has an excellent website with plenty of details about Chimney Swifts in general and also specific information on the SwiftWatch Program for anyone that would like to contribute data to help preserve these amazing birds.
This video from Nova Scotia posted on YouTube captures both the beauty and the awe Swifts can inspire. Just don’t expect to see quite so many on your first outing!
Photo’s Courtesy of Bird Studies Canada, Christian Artuso, Mark Bell, The Northern Hoot.
Mark Bell 2017
