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Birds Descend on Manayunk Chimney
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Birds Descend on Manayunk Chimney
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| source: ms.audubon.org |
Residents living in the neighborhood surrounding Manayunkâs Dobson James School are welcoming some temporary neighbors. Early this week, flocks of chimney swift birds started roosting in the chimney of the elementary school, as well as other chimneys in the area.
Rich McIlhenny, a local realtor, took his children to Manayunk to see the chimney swifts at the school Thursday evening. McIlhenny, who filmed the birds, said that they appeared around 7 in the evening in great numbers, all swarming around the top of Dobson James School until they dove head-first into the chimney.
"It was like something out of a science fiction movie,â he said. "My kids were screaming because they looked look bats, so I explained to them that they were birds getting ready to roost.â
Another Philadelphian, Steve Hebden, saw the spectacle Friday night with his daughter. He described the birds diving into the chimney as a "steady stream that just goes on and on.â
"It took 20 minutes for them to dive in the chimney,â Hebden said. "They shot right down and folded their wings in a way that made it look like they were collapsing.â
McIlhenny heard about this occurrence from a guest speaker at the Friends of Wissahickon, a non-profit nature-interest organization in Philadelphia. He said the chimney swifts fly south to Peru each year, making Philadelphia a regular en-route pit stop.
Chimney swifts were once known as American swifts because they nested and roosted in hollow trees. As early American pioneers deforested their homes, the birds were forced to adapt by roosting in chimneys.
In addition to building nests and roosting in chimneys, swifts sometimes seek refuge in stone wells and abandoned buildings.
When the flock comes here in Philadelphia, they typically make their rest stop at other schools in the are besides Manayunk: the John Story Jenks School in the Chestnut Hill area of the city and the Shawmount School, said Director of Environmental Education at Fairmount Park, Debbie Carr.
"Theyâre only roosting at the Dobson School this year and weâre not sure why,â said Carr. "Itâs possible that they could be down in their numbers.â
Carr said that if the chimney swift population is experiencing a decline in numbers, it could be attributed to a variety of factors, such as trouble rearing, some birds not making back during the migration back north or not enough sustenance, insects, in our region.
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