April 28, 2000

     Chimney Swifts

Minnesota birdwatchers are on the lookout in late April and early May for the first "flying cigars."

Those cigars are chimney swifts circling far overhead, their noisy chatter disclosing their presence.  Chimney swifts are among the fastest and most aerial of birds -- courting, feeding, drinking and bathing on the wing.  They fly continuously, except in heavy rain, and sometimes cover 500 miles in a day.

Swifts, named for their fast flying, are a worldwide family of 76 species.  Four species are found in the United States, but only the chimney swift, with a 5-inch-long body and 12-inch wingspan, is found in Minnesota.

The chimney swift's winter range was unknown until 1943, when a few banded birds were recovered from the Amazon Valley in Peru.  When they travel north in the spring, the first birds reach the southern part of the United States in the third week of March.  Insects that swarm high in the warm southern air are their food.

Chimney swifts do not reach southern Minnesota until a full month later, which seems a long time for birds that fly 60 to 70 miles per hour.  The chief reason for their slow northward push is the uncertain weather; the birds spend their days flying and feeding and often do not make much migratory progress.  In fact, they travel many extra miles during migration to avoid arriving before insects fill the air because insects are their only food.