[wisb] Bird City communities can monitor aerial acrobats in the next six weeks

From: "Carl Schwartz" <cschwartz3@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Wisconsin Birding Network" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 5 Aug 2012 16:32:19 -0500

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

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[wisb] Bird City communities can monitor aerial acrobats in the next six weeks

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