Logan Hine
Executive Summary / Report
Wildlife Management /
Chimney Swift Nesting Tower
for William T. Hornaday
My project was to build a nesting tower for chimney swifts. Chimney swifts are a near threatened bird species whose population has been on the decline due to habitat loss and destruction. Chimney Swifts originally nested and roosted in hollow trees. Because of construction and development, those trees were cut down and forests were removed. The Chimney Swifts were forced to find other ways to find other ways to survive. The swifts started to roost and nest in chimneys, both residential and industrial, as urban development continued. As modern technology brought new heating sources, chimneys were not as widely used. The chimney swifts are once again looking for a new home.
About a year ago, at Shepherd University, a local college, Sara Cree Hall was torn down. Sara Cree Hall's chimney was home to the largest roost of chimney swifts in the state of West Virginia. With the completion of my nesting tower project, I hope to attract chimney swifts to Cool Springs Preserve and to provide a place for them to nest each year and also to educate visitors about Chimney Swifts and the problems they are faced with. Most people don't know anything about chimney swifts or that this beneficial bird species is in trouble.
Another success related to my project is that the Potomac Valley Audubon Society, my benefiting organization and my conservation advisors, got the approval and acquired enough funding to complete the Roosting Tower project - Raise the Roost - at Shepherd University. {See article about their success story https://www.shepherd.edu/news/new-chimney-swift-tower-on-west-campus-ready-for-birds-to-occupy/ }
I look forward to visiting Cool Spring Preserve for years to come to see the success of the nesting tower. My hope is that one day Chimney Swifts will move off the near threatened list and will regain healthy populations.
· Date: October 15, 2019 · Views: 3950 · File size:22.4kb, 1503.3kb · : 2448 x 3264 ·
Project Results
Hours Volunteered: 427.50
Volunteers: 44
Authors Age & Age Range of Volunteers: 15 & 7 to 53