# So now my chimney is a wildlife sanctuary! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-my-chimney-is-a-wildlife-sanctuary/665082 "2013-08-01T14:48:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-my-chimney-is-a-wildlife-sanctuary/665082/1 "2013-08-01T14:48:06Z")
A couple of weeks ago, we heard a little “peep, peep, peep” coming from the chimney. Low on the list of things we needed to pay attention to. Mostly just at dawn and dusk - I thought it kinda cute. Figured in a couple of weeks the birds would fledge and we could have the chimney cleaned and capped. A week or so later, the birds seemd to have morphed into some kind of pteradactyls. They are hissing at each other and banging around there all hours of the day and night. Was driving my wife crazy, so she called a company re: humane removal. Well whaddya know - I got chimney swifts! And they are protected by the migratory bird treaty or somesuch. Illegal to remove them until they choose to migrate sometime in the next couple of months. Looking on the bright side, I now have a new bird on my life list… It has been cool - maybe I’ll just start up a nice smokey fire… ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-my-chimney-is-a-wildlife-sanctuary/665082/2 "2013-08-07T19:28:14Z")
Congratulations!😃 My sister has been studying the chimney swift for the last two years while completing her Masters and a subsequent Phd. The eventual goal is to encourage the birds to revert to nesting in nature as opposed to being dependent on man-made structures as the number of open masonry chimneys diminishes. Probably not soon enough for you, but if you have any questions about them, I do know someone who is an expert. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-my-chimney-is-a-wildlife-sanctuary/665082/3 "2013-08-12T16:42:00Z")
Still don’t care for the SOBs when I’m in my family room and hear them fighting in my chimney. But must admit that when I was workin gin the yard Sat a.m. and saw them swooping about, gulping up insects, made it a little easier to wait for migration time. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-my-chimney-is-a-wildlife-sanctuary/665082/4 "2013-08-12T16:57:07Z")
There is a small wildlife sanctuary near me that has a couple of free-standing chimneys specifically for swifts to use. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-my-chimney-is-a-wildlife-sanctuary/665082/5 "2013-08-12T20:40:40Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > There is a small wildlife sanctuary near me that has a couple of free-standing chimneys specifically for swifts to use. Yeah - such a thought actually crossed my mind. But I’d feel so stupid if I went thru the effort and expense to maintain a chimney for them and it went unused… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-my-chimney-is-a-wildlife-sanctuary/665082/6 "2013-08-13T15:19:12Z")
[More information on the chimney swift project.](http://www.aswp.org/conservation/swifts.html) > [@](#): > > Through our Chimney Swift Conservation Program,swift4 we are building and installing Chimney Swift Towers throughout the region. The towers mimic chimneys and provide the appropriate space and structure needed to support roosting and nesting swifts. The central tower is approximately 15 feet tall and the inside diameter of the tower is 16”. In many cases, the tower is surrounding by an informational kiosk that describes the structure, its purpose and ASWP’s role in the conservation. Some informational panels also contain a QR code which brings smart phones users to this website. To date, ASWP has installed seven towers in two counties, and we have acquired a significant amount of support to install and/or coordinate the installation of many, many more. We have set a goal of 100 towers installed in southwestern Pennsylvania by 2016. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-my-chimney-is-a-wildlife-sanctuary/665082/7 "2013-08-23T23:54:23Z")
They seem to have left the day before yesterday. We put on a cap, as I heard someone say birds migrating from further north might take up residence for the winter.