Chimney Swifts Baltimore Tour 2025

Let's welcome the Chimney Swifts back to Baltimore. The Swifts stop over on their annual migration to Peru, maybe because they want to catch an Orioles or Ravens game, before continuing south. Chimney Swifts have claw feet and therefore cannot perch. They stay in flight the entire day before roosting for the night on a vertical surface just after sunset. That vertical surface can be a hollowed out tree trunk or duh..., inside a chimney. Before they roost, they perform a huge aerial display, a synchronized flight around the chimney, in a maneuver called the "Swift Tornado", before all heading in. Seeing all those birds flying into a small chimney is akin to seeing the Occamy flying into a small teapot (reference to the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them). See if you can top that Taylor.

In previous years, the Swifts were viewable from about the 2nd week to about the 4th week of September.

More about the Swifts
https://marylandbirds.org/chimney-swifts

The Plight of Chimney Swifts
https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/climate-environment/planned-demolition-of-hampden-bookbindery-would-deprive-migratory-birds-of-their-roost-LRUDNKD7RZFRBISYVRH44FCTME/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcRBcK6brLI

Swift Night Out 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y67s0ym_8Gw

A Cyclone of Chimney Swifts 2023
My Video on Youtube (uncredited)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BXw3MRGz8Y

Bring a lawn chair