For the first time in 15 years of living at my current house (Richmond, VA area) I have a nest of Chimney swifts in my chimney and love having them there. It started with what sounded like just one bird and I didn't know much about the species. Then I knew it was a nesting pair when the chicks hatched and the mass twittering and flapping started. This has been going on for weeks. From what I've learned this is about the time they should be leaving the nest and migrating. My questions and concerns - I still hear some twittering, but not near the volume or consistency, nor do I hear all the flapping anymore. Do some babies leave sooner than others and perhaps there's just one baby left that an adult is tending to? Would this still be an adult I hear after all the babies are gone? Do the babies fly and eat around my house and then come back into my chimney to rest or once they fledge are they gone for good? I don't think I've ever seen the birds on the wing, I just hear them at all hours of the day when they are in the chimney. I assumed it would just be one day and I wouldn't hear them at all anymore, not this tapering off type noise. I'm concerned something has gone wrong with the nest/babies since I don't know their fledging behavior. We do have a red tailed hawk that lives around our house, are they a threat to the babies? Should I attempt to look up the chimney? I don't want to disturb them. Thank you in advance for educating me on they typical 'what to expect' when you have a nest of swifts in your chimney!
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Please answer questions I have about my Chimney Swifts - 1st time nest! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter gigagirl
- Start date
Hi gigagirl, I;vehad chimney swifts for several years (which is why I've never cleaned the chimney). They do get annoyingly noisy at times, and I think they get progressively quieter, but I don't think I've heard only one baby. They are flying around with the martins and barn swallows, but the swifts are more like torpedoes. And a red-tailed hawk is a predator, but the swifts are awfully fast.
I lost a purple martin last year to a mother barred owl, but then I found a photo on youtube of a cage that keeps owls from attacking. Worked great! Good luck to you!
I lost a purple martin last year to a mother barred owl, but then I found a photo on youtube of a cage that keeps owls from attacking. Worked great! Good luck to you!
Hi there gigagirl and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum 
Here's a link to our Bird Behavior section: https://www.birdforum.net/forums/bird-behaviour.701/
Perhaps you could copy your above post and start a new thread in that section of the Forum and get some suggestions to your questions
Here's a link to our Bird Behavior section: https://www.birdforum.net/forums/bird-behaviour.701/
Perhaps you could copy your above post and start a new thread in that section of the Forum and get some suggestions to your questions
In a former house I owned with a chimney I had swifts one year and enjoyed their noise. However, at the end of the season, I decided to clean the chimney and ledge above the fire place. I found an immature chick that had apparently fallen from the nest and died. I put a screen on the chimney.
