BSC Holds Ontario-Wide Chimney Swift "Blitz" 18 June 2009 - Each evening as dusk approaches, you may notice small birds chirping overhead, circling tall chimneys. If these birds are cigar-shaped, with relatively long pointed wings and a quick, jerky flight - and if they dive at (and then into) a chimney around sunset - you likely have Chimney Swifts in your neighborhood.
BSC is inviting Ontario residents to help look for Chimney Swifts next weekend, as part of a province-wide "blitz." Volunteers in communities throughout Ontario will spend an evening watching a local chimney or similar manmade structure for signs of swifts. The goals are to increase our knowledge of Chimney Swift activity, and to raise awareness of the plight of the Chimney Swift, a federally Threatened species whose population has declined in Canada by 96% over the last 40 years. You can help researchers investigate Ontario's Chimney Swift population, and identify important Chimney Swift habitats, by choosing a single night between June 26-28, and watching a chimney that may have swifts . Start your monitoring period 20 minutes before sunset, and continue until you see the last bird entering the chimney. Email your findings, including the location of your chimney, and the total number of birds you saw entering it (even if this number is zero) to hwhee...@birdscanada.org<mailto:hwhee...@birdscanada.org>. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
