Chimney Swift Tower

Chimney Swifts contribute to our comfort during warm months. Flying rapidly, each one consumes vast quantities of airborne insects. In the evening, hundreds or thousands gather in swirling displays as they descend into enclosed spaces, like chimneys, where they perch on the vertical walls. Come fall, they migrate to South America. Chimney Swift populations have been declining significantly for decades.

In 2014, Jessica Hite, an IU Biology graduate student who was on the SAS Board received an SAS grant to construct a tower for chimney swift use. SAS worked with the Bloomington Wonder Lab to construct a single swift tower on their property adjacent to the new B-Line trail running through downtown Bloomington. In following years, SAS worked with Community partners to construct additional swift towers at Harmony School, Will Detmer Park, and Rogers Family Park, which has three swift towers. While swift use of these towers varies from year to year, monitoring will continue.

Check our Events calendar for our occasional Swift Watches.