Operation Swift Watch at the OPL this Thursday evening!

 

Quiet observers are invited to witness a very special event this Thursday
evening at 6:45pm (weather permitting), when several young Chimney Swifts
will be released into the sky above the Village Green behind Orono Public
Library.  The birds, orphaned or injured as nestlings, have been in care at
Avian Haven Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center and are now ready to join adult
birds in preparation for the 10,000-mile migration to South America's Amazon
River basin.  Volunteers and staff of Avian Haven will be on hand to provide
information and answer questions.

 

Don't be surprised if this species seems unfamiliar to you.  Many people are
unaware of the "flying cigars" in the evening sky.   However, if you have
been entertained by the acrobatic swoops and dives and the incessant chatter
of small gray birds over summer concerts on the Village Green behind Orono
Public Library, you are lucky to have encountered one of North America's
most intriguing annual visitors, the Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica).
Some of these ecologically important little birds have spent the entire
summer here, nesting in our chimneys and devouring thousands of mosquitoes
and other flying insect pests every day.  Others are arriving from farther
north, looking for an evening's rest in Orono.  At this time of year, the
Swifts are swirling together in small groups overhead, gathering at one of
the first stops on their long migration.  Each evening, they will share
communal resting places in chimneys and steeples of Orono.

 

Young Chimney Swifts need older ones to guide them to roosts.  When
nestlings have been rehabilitated and raised to maturity, they must be
released into an active group of adult birds who can help them find their
way.  Orono is a great release site, because we have such a vibrant
population of Chimney Swifts.  Join the celebration as these young birds
join a flock in preparation for their first journey south.

 

 

Louise Jolliffe

Youth Services Librarian

Orono Public Library

39 Pine Street

Orono, ME 04473

207-866-5060 

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