Bird City communities can monitor aerial acrobats in the next six weeks Bird City Wisconsin's program is aimed at helping communities identify long-term conservation programs around which they and their organizations can work together to meet program criteria that in turn benefit Wisconsin's birdlife. Chimney Swifts are small, acrobatic birds that migrate from the Amazon Basin of Peru, Brazil and Chile and come to nest here beginning in mid-April. Easily observed, they are a common sight in many urban areas of Wisconsin -- if you know what you are looking for. But many people haven't ever really "seen" a Chimney Swift since the birds spend all day in flight and when they show up around chimneys are often mistaken for bats. Because of growing interest and concern for the declining Chimney Swift population in Wisconsin, the Western Great Lakes Bird & Bat Observatory has organized a statewide Chimney Swift Working Group. Its number one short-term objective is to organize and conduct a series of "Swift Sits" and "Swift Night Outs" (doesn't matter what you call them) in August and September, to get folks thinking about this species. More serious monitoring is planned for 2013 and beyond. The first such events for 2012 took place this weekend in Green Bay and Shorewood. In past years events have been held in Madison, Green Bay, Whitefish Bay, Shorewood, Lake Mills, Richland Center, Fountain City, Fort Aktinson. This year multiple new Milwaukee-area events already are planned, as well as in Lake Geneva, rural Fond du Lac County and at Forest Beach Migratory Preserve north of Port Washington in Ozaukee County. For Bird City communities and their partners, this is an IDEAL event --- easy and FUN. It has great potential in areas that already are recognized as Bird City communities and in places that would like to use a Chimney Swift project to meet their initial or High Flyer criteria. And it's not too late to get something put together yet this year in your community. Here is what you need to know: Minnesota Audubon organizes what it calls "Swift Sits" to raise awareness about and encourage interest in Chimney Swifts. As summer draws to a close and the swifts have finished raising their young, these fascinating aerial acrobats begin to congregate in communal roosts prior to their migration in the fall. Some roosts may consist of an extended family group of a half a dozen birds or so, but the larger sites can host hundreds or even thousands of swifts! It is a way to involve local Audubon chapters, bird clubs, scout groups and neighbors in this exhilarating spectacle. For details, see http://mn.audubon.org/chimney-swift-sit "Swift Night Out" is a continent-wide Chimney Swift roost monitoring project launched in 2001. To participate, you will need to locate a Chimney Swift roost in your area. On one night over the weekend of Aug.10, 11, 12 and / or Sept. 7, 8, 9, you observe the roost starting about 30 minutes before dusk and estimate the number of swifts that enter. Here is the link for more details and to report your results http://www.chimneyswifts.org/page7.html To get a sense of the spectacle and its potential for an event in your community, here are two links to check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7b8PpiNhJg (watch all the way to the end; there's a break) http://birdingwithkennandkim.blogspot.com/2008/09/chimney-swifts-have-always-captivated.html And if you have questions or want to get more deeply involved in the Chimney Swift Working Group, contact William P. Mueller at the Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory http://wglbbo.org/ wpmueller1947@xxxxxxxxx 414-698-9108 Carl Schwartz Coordinator, Bird City Wisconsin http://www.birdcitywisconsin.org 1111 E. Brown Deer Rd. Bayside, WI 53217 414-416-3272 cschwartz3@xxxxxxxxx #################### You received this email because you are subscribed to the Wisconsin Birding Network (Wisbirdn). To UNSUBSCRIBE or SUBSCRIBE, use the Wisbirdn web interface at: //www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn To set DIGEST or VACATION modes, use the Wisbirdn web interface at: //www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn Visit Wisbirdn ARCHIVES at: //www.freelists.org/archives/wisbirdn