OCCUPANCY OF UNCONVENTIONAL NEST AND ROOST HABITATS BY THE CHIMNEY ( PELAGICA) IN MANITOBA Timothy F. Poole Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative c/o Nature Manitoba 401-63 Albert Street Winnipeg, MB R3B 1G4 [email protected]

Gordon Ogilvie c/o Nature Manitoba 401-63 Albert Street Winnipeg, MB R3B 1G4

The Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica, Figure 1) nests in chimneys throughout deciduous- dominated habitats east of the Rocky Mountains.1 Manitoba and Saskatchewan are at the northwest periphery of the global breeding range of this species.2 In Manitoba, swifts breed from the southeast of the province as far north as The Pas.3

This species has adapted to Figure 1. Chimney Swift. Photo credit: Christian Artuso. urbanisation by nesting in chimneys, although the Chimney Swift is still temperature when compared to other long-distant aerial insectivores, known to nest in large, hollowed chimneys, most notably in May and bringing forward the suggestion that out, dead trees in deciduous forest.1 early June when swifts are selecting population declines are linked to the Nesting chimneys in Manitoba are nest sites.4 use of pesticides.1,9 Long-term nest usually at least 40 cm across inside Breeding Survey estimates monitoring in St. Adolphe, south of although some are as small as suggest that the Chimney Swift Winnipeg, suggests that hatching 30 cm across.4 In the southern parts population has declined by 95 per and fledging rates in Manitoba are of their breeding range, Chimney cent between 1970 and 2005 in low, and that severe summer storms Swifts have successfully nested in Canada.6 The reasons for such a increases the rate of nest failure.10 artificial towers.5 However, despite decline are varied and complicated. Since 2007, the Manitoba considerable efforts to replicate these In Manitoba, 14.5 per cent of Chimney Swift Initiative (MCSI) has artificial towers in Manitoba, there 200 known chimney sites were conducted regular monitoring of has been no recorded use of the either capped, lined or demolished roost and nest sites in communities original design, let alone successful between 2007 and 20167, although across Manitoba. The assumptions breeding attempt observed.4 studies suggest that loss of habitat is used to identify Chimney Swift The reasons for such failure likely not significant in other jurisdictions.8 habitat have been formalised reflect the inability of these towers Chimney Swift rates of decline are in documents prepared by the to maintain a relatively stable similar to those experienced by Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative

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Figure 2. 1960s used to identify Critical Habitat under the Manitoba Endangered Species and Ecosystems Act, and to inform stewardship activities by MCSI.7 The following observations are taken from reports by volunteers from MCSI.

Results Use of ‘Screened’ Chimneys It is commonplace for many building owners to restrict access to the interior of a chimney by installing a screen over the top. It is our supposition that most building managers target the exclusion of mammalian and larger avian species, especially (Procyon lotor), and the Rock Pigeon (Columba livia). One of screen takes on the form of a five-sided cage, which is attached to the top of the chimney, thus preventing access by larger , including the Chimney Swift. On June 8, 2018, a volunteer was Figure 2. Damaged pest exclusion screen accessed by Chimney Swifts in Winnipeg. Note the spark arrestor is covering a lined flue and the exclusion cage is over an open flue. Photo credit: Timothy Poole. monitoring a known conventional brick roost chimney on Portage from observations and analysis Methods Avenue, Winnipeg. It became of data produced by around 100 MCSI volunteers participate in apparent during the evening that annual volunteers.4 In identifying the National Roost Monitoring there were two distinct groups of habitat for Chimney Swifts, MCSI has Program (NRMP) which takes place swifts feeding in this area, one on operated under the following general on four evenings each spring. While the north side of Portage Avenue assumptions: programs in other provinces focus near the known roost, and one on • Chimney Swifts only occupy on roosts in spring, MCSI focuses the south side where there were no unlined brick chimneys with more on nest sites through the full known Chimney Swift nest or roost internal dimensions of 30 cm season and volunteers are constantly sites. The volunteer investigated square or more; on the lookout for new sites. MCSI in the hopes of finding a new site • Chimney Swifts avoid chimneys volunteers are encouraged to search on the south side. At 21:00 h, an with any type of liner; for new potential chimneys. Indeed, adult swift was observed removing • obstacles on the chimney regular monitoring has built a cadre a twig from a Manitoba maple (Acer entrance are a hindrance to use of observers who look everywhere negundo) and appeared to drop into by swifts; and discover odd things. a previously unrecorded chimney on • almost all communities containing Monitors watch the chimney for a the south side of Portage Avenue Chimney Swifts are known to set period, recording the times when (twig gathering is a sign of nest MCSI and its partners, but not all swifts enter or leave the chimney building11). On closer inspection, chimneys are known. site. Nesting chimneys are defined the chimney appeared to have two However, since 2016, the MCSI has against roosting chimney via the level flues, one being lined with metal documented numerous cases in which of daytime use. Volunteer monitors and capped using a spark arrestor, these assumptions do not hold. submit observations on monitoring and the other having a pest screen forms. This information has been (Figure 2). At 21:36 h, two Chimney

spring 2020 volume 78.1 BLUE JAY 11 Swifts entered the chimney through the Wolseley neighbourhood of chimney. Observations made during the screen. By doing so they revealed Winnipeg was lined with a metal the day on July 27 confirmed that that there was a hole in the screen sleeve during upgrades to the a breeding attempt was underway due to corrosion and age. Another boiler system. MCSI observations inside the chimney. The chimney was swift attempting to enter through had recorded breeding attempts in also occupied by swifts in 2019. this screen at 21:40 h appeared this chimney from 2013 to 2017. to make contact, deflected off the Manitoba Sustainable Development Double-flues screen, made a second pass, and discussed this loss of habitat for Of the chimneys on churches entered the chimney. Chimney Swifts with the building and presbyteries in , over 50 While still watching the same owners and it was agreed removal of per cent were closed to swifts by group of , the volunteer noticed a pest exclusion screen from another the installation of a spark arrestor two Chimney Swifts entering a chimney on the building would be or hat which prevents access to the chimney on a taller apartment appropriate mitigation. This screen chimney.6 Observers may assume that building nearby at 21:55 h. This was removed in May before Chimney the presence of sheet metal on top of chimney had two flues, one open, Swifts returned to Manitoba. Follow- a chimney is indicative of capping but and one with a pest exclusion screen. up monitoring on June 4 recorded a in some cases, a chimney may have a The swifts were observed entering pair of Chimney Swifts entering the second open flue. through a hole in the pest exclusion In July 2015, a Chimney Swift was screen, and not into the apparently observed using the second chimney open chimney. at St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church Both these chimneys were on Hampton Street, Winnipeg, even monitored later in the summer. At though there appeared to be a spark the first site where nest building arrestor and hat preventing access. behaviour had been noted, behaviour On closer inspection, it was apparent indicating the parents were tending that the top only covered one half young on August 5, 2018 confirmed of the chimney, leaving a separate this as a nesting site. The other flue open for swifts to access (Figure screened chimney hosted 10 roosting 3). There is also no suggestion that Chimney Swifts on August 8, 2018. the presence of a tall object on In addition, four other chimneys with the chimney was deterring swifts broken pest exclusion screens were from accessing the open flue. This occupied by Chimney Swifts in 2018, same pattern has been observed in all in Winnipeg, although detailed several other chimneys in Winnipeg, data are not available. Melita, and Portage la Prairie, and in London, Ontario.1 Removing the Cap from a Chimney A large chimney on St. Avila School in Fort Richmond, Winnipeg had been used as a roost and nest site in 2009 and 2011 before it was capped with sheet metal c. 2014. The cap blew off in a windstorm in 2016 and a breeding attempt was made by swifts in 2016. Unfortunately, observations by MCSI volunteers suggested that the breeding attempt failed in August Figure 3. Two chimneys at St. Ann’s Church, 2016. Winnipeg. The chimney in the foreground has two In late April 2018, a chimney flues. In the foreground is an open flue, and the spark arrestor covers a closed flue. The chimney on the Fleetwood Apartments in to the right is two bricks wide only. Photo credit: Figure 4. Inside of clay-lined chimney at Trinity Timothy Poole. United Church. Photo credit: Gordon Ogilvie.

12 BLUE JAY spring 2020 volume 78.1 Clay-lined Chimneys in another clay-lined chimney at Chimney Pots Clay-lined chimneys provide a Olina’s Jewels on Saskatchewan On June 21 2016, a Chimney poor substrate for Chimney Swifts to Avenue, Portage la Prairie. On Swift was observed entering one of grip and are therefore considered as August 2, 2017, two birds roosted five clay pots on a chimney on the less suitable than brick chimneys.4 in this chimney. Unlike the Trinity Granite Curling Club in Winnipeg. It The clay-lined chimney on Trinity United Church, this chimney is an was believed that the swift was part United Church in Portage la Prairie outlet for the buildings current of a breeding attempt. This was the is no longer operational and is lined heating system and the clay pots are first observation in Manitoba of a with a 35 cm by 35 cm square liner. rounded. No evidence of a previous swift using such a chimney (Figure 5) An inspection through the chimney nesting attempt, including twigs, It is however known that Chimney cleanout demonstrated that the or parts of an old nest, was found Swifts often enter chimneys through clay-liner continued throughout the in either chimney suggesting that smaller entrances than the internal chimney and consisted of individual they are being used as an alternative dimensions, most notably using rain clay pots measuring approximately roosting site by non-breeding birds. shields on artificial towers in the 90 centimetres tall. Each pot was It is our belief that the mortar USA4-5. fixed to the adjacent tube using seams may act as a ledge for adult mortar (Figure 4). This chimney sits swifts to cling to, and possibly even Smaller Chimney Dimensions adjacent to a second brick chimney to attach a nest.4 Chimney Swifts were previously on the church, which is regularly Potential roosting and nesting has known to breed only in chimneys used by a breeding pair. been observed in other apparently with a minimum internal of at least On May 29, 2016, a single clay-lined chimneys in Winnipeg 30 cm square, which approximates to Chimney Swift was observed (MCSI, unpublished data) and Orilla, an external dimension of 2.5 bricks.4 entering a clay-lined chimney at Ontario (Robert Stewart. pers. The chimney on St. Ann’s church on Trinity United Church. A single bird comm.). However, it is our conjecture Hampton Street, Winnipeg, has been was also observed roosting on June that for nesting to occur in these watched since 2014, and regularly 1 and June 6, 2016. In 2017, one sites, there would need to be either hosts a breeding pair of swifts. In or two Chimney Swifts roosted a partial clay-liner that only inserts 2015, the chimney was condemned in this same chimney throughout partway into the chimney, or sufficient for demolition due to its poor state the breeding season, although no deterioration of the clay-liner to of repair. Instead, MCSI found the evidence was found to suggest that render the surface of the chimney funds to have this chimney repaired. the birds are breeding. wall rough enough for pre-fledgling The chimney had been surfaced On July 26, 2017, the same juveniles to ‘walk’ around.4,7 with stucco. On removing the stucco, observer noted a single bird roosting it was apparent that the chimney

Figure 5. Chimney at the Granite Curling Club with multiple clay pots. Photo credit: Timothy Poole.

spring 2020 volume 78.1 BLUE JAY 13 was only two bricks square, giving an became apparent that the Chimney internal dimension of 20 cm and an Swift adults had built their nest external dimension of 40 cm (Figure on the ledge of the cleanout trap 3). Similar-sized chimneys have near the base of the chimney. One Poetry been used by swifts elsewhere in chick remained in the nest, and a Manitoba, most notably in Souris. second was resting on the floor of the cleanout, which was situated Correction Searching for Chimney at least one floor above the base Swifts in New Settlements of the chimney. The cleanout was A Cooper’s Hawk races GIS analysis of MCSI data resealed, and volunteers from the suggested that Chimney Swifts MCSI confirmed that adult swifts had pell mell select human settlements within continued with their feeding visits via across an open field 2 km of running water, in areas direct observations. only eight, maybe ten subject to minimal insecticide use, Nesting material and guano had and in which average house age previously been found on the surface feet above the earth. was >50 years (built prior to 1970).13 of a duct in a chimney in St. Adolphe This analysis generated a list of (Barbara Stewart, pers. comm.). An updraft from an old 145 settlements that had potential Our initial assumption was that dried out slough habitat for Chimney Swifts. In 2018, swifts glue their nests to the vertical MCSI asked volunteers to check for rough surface of the chimney. We cants him nearly potential Chimney Swift breeding speculate that a mortar ledge in a onto his back. habitat in these settlements, and tiled chimney might provide suitable for observations of swifts. In total, substrate for nesting. 46 towns were visited on at least With two powerful strokes one occasion, and of these, six Discussion and Conclusion of his scimitar wings were occupied by Chimney Swifts Our observations have provided he rights himself (Morden, Neepawa, Lockport, new information on habitat to accipiter form Pilot Mound, Baldur and Birtle). selection, notably in relation to nest Chimney Swifts were also recorded site chimneys. As a result, MCSI

in two additional settlements not has been able to add numerous And continues previously known to breeding new sites to its database. In 2017, his headlong dash swifts (Dominion City and Eriksdale). MCSI added 37 new chimneys to its Potential breeding habitat was database, of which 30 were occupied for food, for fun. located in all these communities, on at least one occasion by swifts. Perhaps both. although active sites were only In 2018, 48 new sites were added, identified in Morden, Lockport, 33 of which were occupied on at Dominion City and Eriksdale. least one occasion by swifts. Of these chimneys, five in 2018 were found George Grassick Nesting Attempt on the in communities that had no previous Box 205 Ledge of a Cleanout and records of Chimney Swifts (MCSI, Lumsden, SK Boiler Duct unpublished data). S0G 3C0 Many chimneys are accessed Of particular note, 348 [email protected] through the cleanout trap.4,10 MCSI Assiniboine Avenue in Winnipeg received a call from a building was a two-flue chimney. One flue manager on Valhalla Drive in the was covered, with a damaged pest North Kildonan neighbourhood of exclusion cage, and the other was Winnipeg on July 24, 2018. Concern clay-lined. In August 2018, Chimney had been raised by the caretaker Swifts were observed moving over the presence of Chimney Swifts between the two flues. This type found in the cleanout trap of the of behaviour has been observed in chimney. On arrival at the building, it St. Adolphe, where a brood

14 BLUE JAY spring 2020 volume 78.1 the natal chimney and takes up birdatlas.mb.ca/accounts/speciesaccount. occupancy in a different chimney jsp?sp=CHSW&lang=en [12 Aug 2019] (Barbara Stewart, pers. comm.). In 4. Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative (2016). this case, we can speculate that the Guidelines for Creating Chimney Swift brood had left the natal flue, with Nesting or Roosting Chimneys in Manitoba. https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/ the damaged pest control cage, and Documents/artificialstructures2016.pdf [12 Poetry the young were exploring the clay- August 2019] lined flue. Novel nesting habitat has 5. Kyle, P.D. and Kyle, G.Z. (2005). Chimney Prelude been observed in other parts of this Swift Towers. New habitat for America’s species range, for example, in Texas, mysterious birds. Texas A & M University, where Chimney Swifts have nested in College Station, TX. The throngs Of house sparrows 5 a shopping centre sign. 6. COSEWIC (2007). COSEWIC assessment Chirp so melodically These observations suggest that and status report on the Chimney Swift To the cadence of the chickadees there is potentially more habitat Chaetura pelagica in Canada. Committee on available to breeding swifts in the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Percussive chip-chip-chip. Ottawa. Vii + 49 pp. (www.sararegistry. Manitoba than was previously gc.ca/status/status_e.cfm). assumed. The implications for the Their choirmaster a bold, conservation of this species are 7. Stewart, R.E.A., Poole, T.F., Artuso, C.A. and Stewart, B.E. (2017). Loss and significant, as this species can select little, puffed-up cock preservation of Chimney Swift habitat in what is likely to be many more Manitoba, 2007-2016. Blue Jay 75:11-15 The last to flutter off nesting sites. 8. Fitzgerald, T. M., van Stam, E., Nocera As I walk by. J.J., and Badzinski, D.S. (2014). Loss of Acknowledgements Nesting Sites is Not a Primary Factor Limiting The following volunteers Northern Chimney Swift Populations. Beyond the sighing windbreak contributed monitoring data: Population Ecology 56:507-512. The red bull croons his Christian Artuso, David Charriere, 9. North American Bird Conservation Strong, reverberating Cal Cuthbert, Rick Demey, Ken De Initiative Canada. 2012. The State of Smet, Nicole Firlotte, Paul Goossen, Canada’s Birds, 2012. Environment Canada, bassoon pitch John Hays, Gerald Machnee, Frank Ottawa, Canada. 36 pages. To his many loves. Machovec, Jacquie Machovec, Janice 10. Stewart, B. E., and Stewart, R.E.A. Madill, Chris Meiklejohn, Lynnea (2013). Nest Site Use, Breeding Success and All in preparation for Parker, Millie Reid, Ken and Jan Reproductive Rates of Chimney Swifts in St Adolphe, MB, 2010-2013. Blue Jay 71:166- The featured performers Wainwright, Margaret Yorke, Millie 182. Reid. Robert and Barbara Stewart The ever present, yet furtive provided comments on the two 11. Stewart, B. (2010). Have Chimney Swifts been using my chimney? Unpublished Coyote Chorus drafts of the manuscript. report for the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative. https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/ And their constant and 1. Steeves, T. K., S. B. Kearney-McGee, M. A. Documents/CHSW_in_chimney.pdf. Ever changing Rubega, C. L. Cink, and C. T. Collins. 2014. Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica). The Birds 12. Wake, W. (2016). Loss of chimneys Song Of The West. of North America. Edited by P. G. Rodewald. used by Chimney Swifts in London, Retrieved from: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/ Ontario, 2004-2013. The Cardinal 243: bna/species/646 DOI: 10.2173/bna.646. 33-38. https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/ Documents/Wake2016_cardinal.pdf. 2. Smith, A.R. (1996). Atlas of Saskatchewan 13. Birch, M. (2017). Chimney Swift Nesting birds. Canadian Wildlife Service, Natural George Grassick History Society, Regina, 456 pp. & Roosting Site Selection: Factors Within Manitoba Populations. Report prepared for Box 205 3. Poole, T. F., B. E. Stewart, and R. E. A. the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative. Lumsden, SK Stewart. 2018. Chimney Swift in Artuso, C., S0G 3C0 A. R. Couturier, K. D. De Smet, R. F. Koes, D. Lepage, J. McCracken, R. D. Mooi, and [email protected] P. Taylor (eds.). The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Manitoba, 2010-2014. Bird Studies Canada. Winnipeg, Manitoba http://www.

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