Chimney Swifts

One of the interesting tidbits about our church is that we are not only a place of worship but we are also home most summers to some of the local chimney swifts.

The chimney swift is a small soot-coloured bird that has been described as a cigar with wings.  Historically, they nested in large, hollow trees but with the destruction of that habitat they moved to “chimneys” as their preferred nesting location, hence the name.  Sadly, swift-friendly chimneys are also on the decline as more and more chimneys are capped or covered in some way making them unsuitable for nesting purposes.

Since we have some suitable nesting habitat here and the birds have been seen using our chimneys, we have decided not to cap our currently uncapped chimneys to continue providing suitable nesting space for this threatened species.

We are thrilled that the local natural history group saw 7 Chimney Swifts on our property in June 2016 including 3 entering the Trinity chimneys.

Find out more about Chimney Swifts in Manitoba at the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative.