Chimney Swift

This is a great bird to have around in the summer. Two adults and their young can eat around 12,000 flying insects a day!* This alone should be enough for people to encourage the birds to nest in their chimneys. The young make a little noise, but so what?! How much noise do you make in your house? This minor inconvenience should be disregarded when you know they could be consuming West Nile Virus-carrying bugs.

Also, their beauty in flight is another reason to enjoy these birds. This summer, we were thrilled to witness 155 of them flying around and then entering into their chimney roost for the night. Man cannot create such an awesome spectacle.

* //www.chimneyswifts.org/page29.html