Date: 9/26/26 7:58 pm From: Robin Harding via groups.io <pine2siskin4...> Subject: Re: [NEBirds] Chimney Swift roost in Kearney
Nebraska birders,
I had never watched Chimney Swifts go to their night roost. It was very
cool to experience part of it with Bill Flack on September 24. It's too
bad that we couldn't stay until the last swift descended into the chimney.
I was unable to go back the next evening but I did this evening, September
26, arriving at about 7:10, when there were only five swifts circling the
chimney. For a while, I thought that the swifts were using a different
chimney this evening or that they had migrated south.
The number of swifts slowly grew and they continued to circle the church's
chimney. I thought that I saw a few swifts drop down into the chimney but
as Bill wrote, it was difficult to determine if the swifts were going into
the chimney or dropping down behind it. It was hard to estimate the total
number of swifts since I couldn't see the whole flock but I estimated 60
swifts. The swirling mass of swifts continued. When it was almost too
dark for me to see the birds, it looked like many swifts were dropping into
the chimney but many were still circling. When I stopped hearing them
twitter, I assumed that they were all in the chimney. It was about 8:00.
My experience was very similar to Bill's and Diane's.
Robin Harding
Shelton, Nebr.
On Sat, Sep 26, 2026 at 9:11 PM dt via groups.io <dtandelsie=
<yahoo.com...> wrote:
> William, this actually sounds similar to what I saw in Gothenburg on
> August 29th. The darker it got, the more rapidly they disappeared down the
> chimney, but as some descended, others flew by and circled around,
> eventually also descending. I watched approx. 200 enter the single chimney
> in approximately 17 minutes. https://ebird.org/checkli.st/S388114605 > Quite a sight ! It would be great if birders who live near these chimneys
> used as migration roosts monitored them in late summer early fall!
> Diane Thomas in Laramie, WY
>
> Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer
> <https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&c=US_Acquisition_YMktg_315_SearchOrgConquer_EmailSignature&af_sub1=Acquisition&af_sub2=US_YMktg&af_sub3=&af_sub4=100002039&af_sub5=C01_Email_Static_&af_ios_store_cpp=0c38e4b0-a27e-40f9-a211-f4e2de32ab91&af_android_url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?<id...>&listing=search_organize_conquer> >
> On Sat, Sep 26, 2026 at 9:36 PM, William Flack via groups.io
> <sparvophile...> wrote:
>
> On Thursday evening, Sept. 24, Robin Harding and I watched *Chimney
> Swifts* circling over the block with St. Luke's and Central Elementary. I
> estimated the size of the flock as c. 200 birds. The orbit sometimes moved
> away, but generally included the St. Luke's chimney; and often, as swifts
> flew over the chimney, they fluttered a bit or dropped as though checking
> it out. However, it didn't appear that they were going down the chimney in
> any numbers. (It was hard to tell whether birds went down the chimney or
> behind the church, but it appeared that most were doing the latter.)
> Unfortunately, we had to get to a movie at the World at 7:30, so left the
> swifts at 7:23, before we could see if they'd actually go down the chimney
> in numbers.
>
>
>
> The following evening (Sept. 25), I returned to the site, arriving at
> about 7:30. The swifts were again circling, but there numbers appeared to
> be about half of what they were the previous night—perhaps a different
> flock, or perhaps many had already gone to roost. This time, the loop in
> which they were flying always seemed to include the space right above the
> church. Again, birds passing over the chimney would drop down and flutter a
> bit, as though checking it out, but would usually resume circling. After a
> while, though, it appeared that they were starting to go down. It looked
> like 4–6 birds would drop down into the chimney; and, after that, birds
> would dip down to check, but no one else would descend for a little while,
> until another handful went down. My conjecture is that birds that flew down
> the chimney took some time to find footholds, and until they did, were
> beating their wings; if additional birds had flown down during this time,
> they would've interfered with one another, and possibly the whole bunch
> would've fallen to the bottom. Once this started, the number of circling
> birds seemed to decline surprisingly quickly, and the last of them were
> gone by 8 p.m.; presumably, down the chimney, though it didn't seem as
> though I'd seen that many going into it.
>
>
>
> Other accounts make it sound as though large numbers of swifts pour down a
> chimney, unlike my birds, which seemed to go down a handful at a time.
> Maybe the St. Luke's flue is narrower than the brick chimney would suggest,
> and there's not room for all that many birds to go down at once?
>
>
>
> William Flack
>
> Kearney
>
>
>
>
