chimney swifts

Hey guys...have a client with a boatload of chimney swifts down a tall chimney stack...what is the typical process to take care of it? First time dealing with em for me

Protected species, need a federal permit to touch and by the time the paperwork is done the swifts will be on the other side of the gulf of mexico for the winter. Install a cap on the chimney then. No papers required for that so tell your client to be patient and wait.

This time of year the nesting is done. You're probably looking at a communal roost as the flocks gather up to fatten up in preparation for their overseas flight.

What Warrior said. I get a few calls every year. The young sound like baby coons and the adults look like bats to some people.

Chimney Swifts are making their fall migration to South America. They fly by day and roost in chimneys at night. I have received calls for “hundreds of bats are entering my home from the fireplace”. In every instance the “bats” turned out to be chimney swifts. In every instance the flue damper had been left open. I would close the damper or somehow block the flue to prevent further entry, then spend an hour or two catching any birds inside the home and releasing them outside. If the customer demanded it, the next day a chimney cap would be installed; preferably installation of the cap would be delayed until after migration was over, problem solved.

To verify that chimney swifts are still using the chimney, conduct a sunset to dark inspection.

Here are a couple of YouTube videos.

Chimney Swift Migration Roost- Huntsville, Alabama https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ06zyx9Z_Q

Chimney Swifts on Birmingham Ala. Southside- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HflLHULGgmo

We still have a lot of activity here in SW Pa. They seem to taper way off occupying the chimneys in early October here.

Thanks Ron for those videos. Good to see my old home town. Reminds me of evenings as a kid sitting in the stands at Rickwood Field for a Barons game watching the swifts and bullbats (nighthawks) around the lights.

Of course Birmingham had more than its share of chimneys and stacks than most cities.