This summer we’ve been sharing our home — or brick chimney, I should say — with a family of nesting chimney swifts. They can be quite noisy, but, for the most part, we’ve been glad to have them.
Now, with their babies nearly fledged, the birds should be leaving any day. Once again, we’ll be able to sit in our den in the evening and watch the Braves games on TV without a lot of loud chirping coming from the fireplace.
I say that we have been glad to have the swifts because the species has come to depend almost totally on man-made structures like fireplace chimneys, airshafts and abandoned buildings for nesting sites and shelter. Deforestation and loss of large hollow trees has caused a scarcity of natural roosting and nesting sites for swifts.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources biologists encourage homeowners with suitable chimneys to allow swifts as temporary guests. Such chimneys have inside walls made of stone, firebrick or masonry flue tiles with mortared joints.
These materials allow the birds to cling to the chimney walls, unlike the metal materials used in more modern homes.
Chimney swifts are well adapted for chimney roosting because their small but strong feet and four sharp gripping claws allow them to cling easily to rough vertical surfaces. Most other songbirds perch or stand upright.
The swifts use saliva to glue their half-saucer shaped nests of short, dead twigs to the chimney walls. Each nest holds four to five whitish eggs.
By providing a home for swifts, you will be repaid with a less buggy yard. Known as “flying cigars” because of their sleek shapes, the swifts consume huge amounts of insects as they constantly dart about.
In the sky: The moon will be full July 31 — a blue moon, which occurs when there are two full moons in a calendar month. The first full moon of this month was July 2.
The South Delta Aquarid meteor shower will reach a peak of 15 meteors per hour Tuesday night, said Tellus Science Museum astronomer David Dundee. Look to the southeast from midnight until dawn.
Mercury is low in the east just before dawn. Venus shines brightly in the west at dusk and sets about two hours later. Jupiter is low in the west at dusk and sets a few hours later. Jupiter and Venus will appear close together at dusk Friday night. Saturn is in the southeast just after dark and will appear near the moon Saturday night.
