Protecting the nesting habitats

The chimney swift, an aerial insectivorous species (feeding on insects captured in flight), is threatened in Canada. This project aims at obtaining a better understanding of its use of forests during the reproduction period and to clearly identify migration corridors.

Thanks to installation of radio-transmitters, Chimney swifts using the roosting site of the Sanatorium Historique Lac-Édouard (Haute-Mauricie, Quebec), were tracked during nesting period. In summer 2019, two nests were found in natural habitat, an exceptional discovery! More than twenty birds were also tracked during fall migration and stewardship actions were realized with owners in the Lac-Édouard area.

In addition to the project in Haute-Mauricie, other actions are taken in the south of Quebec. A chimney swift tower was built in Granby and successfully used for nesting within the first year of completion. Monitoring of building chimneys in Granby was done by a local ornithology club. Two more towers are planned as part of a major conservation project involving different organizations.