Subject: [Tweeters] Vaux's happening F.A.Q part one
Date: Apr 15 23:12:12 2008
From: Larry Schwitters - lpatters at ix.netcom.com


Tweeters,

Actually these are S.A.Q. Seldom asked questions. I wish there was
more time to educate the general public about the birds and the need.
I would somehow lay this on them.

VAUX?S HAPPENING F.A.Q.

What?s a Vaux?s? Named after Sir William Vaux, this bird is the
smallest and most numerous of the swift species in Washington State.
Billy Vaux was English, so it?s pronounced VAWKiz.

What?s a swift? A family of birds that spend most of their time in the
air catching bugs. They look and act much like swallows but are more
closely related to Hummingbirds. Their foot structure is such that
they can cling, but not perch.

How can I tell a swift from a swallow? Swift wings have evolved
differently from most other birds, and when flying they?re never folded
back towards the body. Swallows can?t seem to stop themselves from
doing that.

Are swifts swift? Indeed they are, among the fastest of all birds.

Is a Vaux?s Swift the same as a Chimney Swift? For now they?re
considered to be very similar but different species. The Vaux?s is
found west of the Rockies and the Chimney Swift is east. The Chimney
Swifts have really taken to man made chimneys. The Vaux?s are slowly
being forced to do the same.

Anything special about Vaux?s Swifts? How about each one consuming up
to 20,000 insects a day? They are an indicator species of the well
being of the PNW forest, something like tiny migrating Spotted Owls.

Are they endangered? They most likely are. But as these birds are
poorly understood and under studied there are few numbers to draw
conclusions from. They prefer to nest in hollow, often broken off
trees, which need to be large enough for them to fly inside of. Big
old dead or dying trees like this are becoming more and more difficult
to find. The birds have recently substituted chimneys for nesting.
But good old-fashioned brick chimneys are no longer used in new
construction and the existing ones are being torn down or sealed. This
is producing a serious nest site shortage.

What?s a HAPPENING? The Vaux?s Happening is an Audubon and community
citizen science project attempting to locate the chimneys in Washington
State that are used as group ?communal? roosts, during migration. We
also want to count how many birds are using which chimneys when.

How many chimneys in the state are known to be swift migration roosts?
Audubon has a list of 29 sites known to have been used in the past, but
any large, open brick chimney is a suspect.

How many birds will spend the night in one chimney? The Wagner
Elementary School chimney in Monroe currently holds the state record of
a few thousand. There is a huge chimney at the Chapman School in
Portland that has had 40,000. When they all try to stuff themselves in
at the same time, it becomes one of nature?s most spectacular events.

Part two to soon follow.

Larry Schwitters
Issaquah
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