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Nestling Chimney Swift

Photo by Sam5
Published on Project Noah
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28.6063, -81.3693

Field Notes

Habitat:

Breeds and roosts in chimneys; feeds entirely on the wing over forests, open country, and towns.

Notes:

Voice:Loud, chattering twitters.

Discussion:Members of this family are among the fastest fliers in the bird world. Swifts spend all of their daylight hours on the wing and come to rest only at evening. They feed exclusively on flying insects. They drink water and bathe by dipping into the water of a pond or river as they fly over it. Since they never perch, they gather twigs in flight, snapping them off with their bills as they pass. Sometimes a twig fails to break and the bird is tossed backward, only to return again. These swifts gather in communal roosts in air shafts or large chimneys, often whirling in a huge circle as they funnel down for the night.

Nesting:4 or 5 white eggs in a nest made of twigs cemented together with saliva and fastened to the inner wall of a chimney or, rarely, in a cave or hollow tree.

Species ID Suggestions

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