As we answer e-mails, letters and phone calls during the Chimney Swift nesting season, one dilemma persists -- to cap or not to cap a chimney.  My favorite answer would be to cap all metal chimneys and leave all masonry and flue tile chimneys open for the swifts.  However, there are cases when even swift-suitable chimneys should be capped.  If a chimney is frequently occupied by squirrels, raccoons and other mammals it should be altered with predator guards such as metal flashing or electric fence wires to exclude everything but Chimney Swifts.  If this is not possible or practical, the chimney should be capped.

Some homeowners, regardless of all attempts to persuade them otherwise, simply will not want to listen to hungry baby Chimney Swifts begging for food.  If a homeowner is inclined to want swifts evicted, it would certainly be better to exclude the birds prior to their expenditure of time and energy in constructing a nest.

Paul Kyle, Editor

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Combining Habitat
Construction with Education

Soon after the first of the year we began construction of 2 new Chimney Swift Towers at the Hornsby Bend Wastewater Treatment Plant near Austin, Texas.  With funding from the Travis Audubon Society and cooperation from the Center for Environmental Education and the City of Austin we combined Chimney Swift housing with public education.
The nest chambers were based on our time-tested 12' towers built of Textured 1-11 siding.  Both included a space between the inner wall and outer sheathing.  In one tower, a 3/4" airspace was left empty.  In the other tower, the space was filled with foil-backed rigid foam insulation board.  Indoor/outdoor thermometers were mounted on the north side of each tower with the "outdoor" probes inserted into the nest chambers.
Both towers were fitted with 4' x 4' kiosk panels on all sides.  The kiosk panels and the lower half of the towers are sheltered by a roof.  The roof and panels provide additional protection from the relentless Central Texas sun.  In addition, the panels provide an ideal place to mount educational visual displays.

The location and the unique appearance of the towers make them highly visible to the many birders, school children and conservation groups that visit the facility.  This new design lends itself well to placement in state parks and other public locations where an appeal for Chimney Swift conservation may be well received.

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