A Chimney Becomes a Travel Stop

On fall evenings, chimney swifts may gather above towns in eastern North America. These small birds catch flying insects for food. As days grow colder, fewer insects are available. The swifts migrate, moving from one region to another with the seasons, to places where they can keep finding food.

The journey takes many days, so the birds need places to rest along the way. An open, unused chimney can serve as a roost, a shared resting place. During fall migration, hundreds of swifts may spend a night together inside one chimney.

Under the heading “Resting on a Wall,” a drawing shows a chimney cut open from top to bottom. Swifts cling to its rough inner walls. Their short, stiff tail feathers brace their bodies, helping hold them steady. Unlike many backyard birds, chimney swifts do not sit on branches to rest.

A photograph shows birds circling above a chimney against an orange evening sky. Its caption reads, “Gathering at a roost before nightfall.” The circling flock will enter the opening and settle inside. This is a place to sleep during the trip, not a place where these travelers are building nests.

A map adds the bigger picture. A north arrow points toward the top of the page. One shaded area marks the summer range in eastern North America. Another marks the winter range in northwestern South America. Long arrows lead south through Central America. They show a general migration route, not every bird's exact path.

The map key explains that dots mark overnight roosts. One dot sits beside a town in the summer range, near the beginning of a southward arrow. That dot does not mark the end of the journey. It marks a stop where traveling swifts can rest before continuing south.

The map shows how far the journey reaches, while the photograph and drawing show what one stop is like. Together, they explain why an ordinary chimney can matter to migrating birds. A sheltered night of rest helps the swifts continue their long search for places with enough insects.