[TN-Bird] Re: Behavioral question for swift watchers: why don't they just fly in?
- From: Melinda Welton <weltonmj@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <elegrand@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, tnbird <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 14:53:42 -0500
Ed
Sorry for the really really late reply. I¹m only now getting to some old
emails still in my inbox.
Reading the Chimney Swift account in the Birds of North America, there is no
mention of the specific behaviors you describe. I¹ve seen the same thing and
perhaps the swifts are assessing just where on the wall they want to roost.
I did find this tidbit of information in that BNA account that you might
find interesting.
³Can fly head-first into nesting chimney or roost if entrance large enough.
Quickly changes to tail-first once inside. Tail-first is typical entry into
nesting chimney with small entry.²
Melinda Welton
Franklin, TN
From: Ed Legrand <elegrand@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: <elegrand@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2013 10:36:16 -0500
To: tnbird <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [TN-Bird] Behavioral question for swift watchers: why don't they
just fly in?
Since swift watching is the current fad, perhaps there¹s a satisfying answer
to a behavioral observation about swift roosting. Several years ago at the
TOS meeting in Chattanooga, some of us watched the swifts going down a
chimney near the restaurant. However, they didn¹t go straight in. Instead,
they circled for several minutes, occasionally dropping down to the chimney
but not going in right away. Why? It seemed to me that there might be a
conflictperhaps going in too early had a cost (getting hemmed in by
others?) while getting in too late had a cost (too dark to see [but it¹s
darker inside the chimney]) or not getting good contact with the wall,
etc.). I¹ve seen some videos of swifts inside a chimney, but that didn¹t
seem to explain it. I wonder what the best spot in the chimney is and why.
Thanks!
Ed LeGrand
Cumberland Co., TN
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