Steep decline of the chimney swift in the Maritimes

A biologist with Bird Studies Canada in Sackville is warning people that the chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica) is disappearing in New Brunswick. Allison Manthorne, co-ordinator of Maritimes SwiftWatch, says the population of chimney swifts has declined by 95 per cent in Canada since 1968, with a close to 50 per cent range shrinkage in the Maritimes. "The chimney swift historically lived in hollow trees, the kind of tree that you find in an old growth forest and our landscape has changed so much that nesting and roosting spaces don't really exist anymore," she said. And while the birds adapted to using the chimneys of schools, churches, houses and industrial buildings, many chimneys are now being capped, steel-lined or torn down, further reducing their nesting options. Insect decline is another problem, said Manthorne. Flying insects, such as mosquitoes, are the major food source for chimney swifts, she said. Chimney swifts are small grey-brown birds with long, pointed wings and short, tapered bodies. They are often mistaken for swallows due to their shape and size. They spend the winter months in the upper Amazon basin of South America including Peru, northwestern Brazil and northern Chile and breed in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Source:
CBC News, 13 May 2013
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2013/05/13/nb-chimney…