Chimney Swift
Chimney Swift: Medium-sized swift, uniformly dark brown with slightly paler throat and upper breast. Inconspicuous spines extend past web at tips of tail feathers. Bill, legs and feet are black. Flight is rapid and batlike on swept-back wings, alternates with gliding. Soars on thermals and updrafts.
● Song:
"chatter-chatter-chatter"
● Foraging & Feeding:
Chimney Swift: Feeds on insects; forages in flight, sometimes quite high. Drinks by skimming the water surface in flight.
● Breeding & nesting:
Chimney Swift: Two to seven white eggs are laid in a nest made of twigs cemented together with saliva and fastened to inner wall of a chimney or, rarely, in a cave or hollow tree. Incubation ranges from 19 to 21 days and is carried out by both parents.
● Similar species:
Chimney Swift: Vaux's Swift is somewhat smaller, with shorter wings, paler rump and throat, and different call.
● Range & Habitat:
Chimney Swift: Breeds from southeastern Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, central Ontario, southern Quebec, and Nova Scotia south to Gulf coast states. Spends winters in the tropics. Nests and roosts in chimneys and feeds entirely on the wing over forests, open country, and towns.