THEE AT THE CHIMNEY
Ta.da! My thesis will be focusing on chimney swifts, the mysterious migratory bird that lost all of its natural habitat after the colonization of Northeast America, and made the remarkable adaptation of nesting and roosting in chimneys.
The other cool thing is that although we can see them from Texas all the way up the East coast and even into Canada, these beauties are actually neotropical migrants; they are a tropical songbird from Peru, Ecuador and other places in the upper Amazon basin.
I love this bird and their story is such a compelling one. I think it can teach us a lot about migratory birds, old growth forests, nightjars and taxonomy. I also wanted to focus on the use of rural homes by species, and this is a perfect fit.
Here is my original post about chimney swifts. There will be many more to come. For our Master's Thesis class we were assigned to come up with 3 questions about our topic, each to be followed by 3 hypothesis statements to go along with the questions. Here are mine:
1. Are chimney swift numbers declining due to the increased use of modern chimneys and do they have higher nesting success in older homes and historical buildings? Ha: Chimney swift numbers are declining due to the increased use of modern chimneys and their numbers will increase with the preservation of old homes and historical buildings with the correct type of chimneys.
2. Are artificial chimneys (swift towers) beneficial to chimney swifts? Ha: The use of artificial chimneys will increase nesting success in chimney swifts and increase their numbers.
3. Will chimney swifts ever return to their natural habitat? Ha: Artificial chimneys placed near areas of old growth forest will result in chimney swifts returning to their natural habitat.
As you can see I have yet more choices to make, but I am looking forward to the process. Many thanks to all my Voxter friends for helping me with this very difficult decision. I am blissful to say, in the end I made the right choice. Many more lessons to share about these critters, it should be fun!
Comments
Merci - yeah I may be out there late at night watching them do their wild descent! I look forward to it - it's supposed to be just as you describe!!
Did you see the Jan. issue of "Orion" magazine. Wonderful article on sparrows.
Aw, an eco-hero! Thank you, Jaypo! They are such special birds, aren't they?
I must pick up that issue of Orion. It sounds perfect for me. Barnes and Noble? (they are usually a month behind anyway....) ;)
Your topic sounds facinating Maya, and those are some compelling questons. So many approaches to studying them!
Looking forward to hearing lots more!
So very cool!! We used to get them when I lived in an old house in Delaware -- oddly enough one that I hadn't thought of in a long time and referred to in a post yesterday. Weird.
Is it known how long the chimney swifts took to adapt to chimneys rather than their original habitat?? i.e. how long could we expect it to take for swifts to return to the "wild" if there was a movement towards swift towers (which I think is a totally cool idea) in forested areas?
As a child living on the farm we loved watching all the birds but the Chimney Swifts were like magic to us.
You discription makes my heart beat faster and brings back a most wonderful memorys.
Way to go Maya on your most dificult decision!
I can't wait to learn more from your research!
Holly
They look very sleek and lovely - I like the way they bathe!
Hmmmmmm. I wonder if there are sifts in the chimney here. Never use the fireplace.
Thank you, my lovely friend - there are indeed too many choices! I shall be needing more good advice from my sharp blogging buddies like yourself! ;)
(You guys haven't let me down yet - what else could I ask for??)
Thank you for giving me the link - I had it bookmarked on my now dead laptop!! I had to begin all over again so I'm happy it's back in my conservation folder. Great info, my big challenge will indeed be learning about chimneys - I'm home repair challenged!! LOL. I'll be reading your post many times.
Thank you!!!
I love the former home serendipity, Steve. It must mean something!!
Great question and although I'm beginning with the current research, most of the studies were pre 1970's (vast majority in the 20's and '30's!) and I'm not sure anyone documented what happened to them in pre-colonial times. It's definetly a puzzle I need to work out. Will most likely be the subject of a post soon. I will also post about your second question, which will surely be one of the most interesting posts I've ever done. And a real scientific puzzle.
Wonderful questions!
Robbie -
Cool!! The swifts come back in March or April, I'll post more details later but I think most people discover them when the young nest for 2 weeks and make their "crying" sounds....as long as there's no chimney cap or other disturbance, and the right texture, you may have them!
I love the name "swifts" - and their taxonomy is hotly debated right now, which makes it even more fun!
//
<( ) <<
\\
//
<( ) <<
\\
damnit trying to make a bird!
//
<( ) <<
\\
LOL aw so sweet!!! It looks like a grand hawk or osprey! ;)
Very cool