Tweeters,

After a two year hiatus I'm back with more believe it or not swift
facts.
I found a fascinating 1945 paper in the AUK. ?
It was researched and written by a guy in Ardmore, PA who noticed a
large flock of swifts going into a chimney down the street, and set out
to count them. He grew quite fond of the little guys.

"During several evening observations at Ardmore, while Charles E. Mohr
was taking flashlight photographs close to the mouth of the chimney, it
was noted that neither the presence of the photographer nor the sudden
flashes of light produced by the bulbs interrupted the flow of swifts
entering the chimney. It is said that the Chimney Swift, spending most
of its daylight hours in the air and seldom, if ever, coming in contact
with man, does not fear the human being. ?Banders who have handled
these birds report them as being unusually tame. Constance and E. A.
Everett (1927), who have banded swifts state: "When removed from the
cage, these swifts were very quiet and apparently comfortable at all
stages of the game. When held in the hands, they would snuggle between
the fingers confidingly; and when held against the clothes, they would
wriggle under the folds of the garments and contentedly go to sleep."

Makes you want to go band some swifts , huh?

There were 375,000 Chimney Swifts banded in the early 1940s.

Larry Schwitters
Issaquah
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