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Chimney Swift Nesting Towers Are Coming to Rhode Island
By Dr. Charles Clarkson Director of Avian Research
The Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) is a remarkable aerial insectivore that is in dire need of conservation help. The species is listed as one of Audubon’s nine “Responsibility Birds” and has experienced an annual decline of 1.57% between 1966 and 2019 in Southern New England. Across North America, the species has declined by nearly 70% during this timeframe and Chimney Swifts have been placed on a watchlist of birds most at risk of extinction by Partners in Flight and have been elevated to the status of “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list of threatened species. This summer, Audubon will be constructing and erecting three Chimney Swift nesting towers in an effort to begin identifying the primary limiting factors the species experiences here in Rhode Island. If used by these birds, these towers will supplement our local breeding population and will prompt the creation of many more of these structures to be placed throughout the state.
