March Means Chimney Swifts
One of the first signs of spring is hearing birds chirping in the morning. Although you usually hear this sound from outside your home, you could also hear it inside your chimney, especially if you do not have a chimney cap professionally installed on its top. Now that March has arrived, it is time for the return of chimney swifts: a species of a migratory bird that is so notorious for nesting inside chimneys that it is named after them. If you think you may be sharing your home with chimney swifts, unfortunately, you will have to wait until October for them to migrate back to their winter home in South America. These birds are protected by federal law under the Migratory Birds Treaty Act, which means that the chimney sweeps at Atlas Chimney cannot remove these birds from your flue. However, we can keep them from coming back to nest in your chimney next spring. We would like to tell you more about chimney swifts and how we can help prevent them from getting into your chimney.
Why do chimney swifts like to nest inside chimneys?
Years ago, chimney swifts typically nested inside tall, hollow trees, but as more and more of them are cut down for farmland and real estate development, these birds begin using chimneys as their preferred nesting spots. Not only can it be annoying to hear baby birds chirping frequently inside your home, it can also be hazardous, especially if you have a metal flue inside your chimney, according to The Humane Society of the United States. Chimney swifts have a difficult time gripping to metal, and they can easily become stuck and even slip and fall to their deaths inside your chimney. Therefore, it is important to prevent these birds from ever getting inside the flue.
How can Atlas Chimney help me keep chimney swifts out of my chimney
The best way to make sure a family of these birds does not spend spring and summer inside your home is to have a chimney cap professionally installed on top of the chimney. Atlas Chimney can show you a wide variety of caps that are equipped with mesh metal sides that do not allow birds, squirrels, raccoons, and other wild animals to get inside the chimney. Once you have selected the right cap for your chimney, our certified and experienced chimney technicians will make sure it is properly installed to best protect your home from invasions of critters.
Not only does a chimney cap keep chimney swifts and other wild animals out, it also prevents water from getting into your chimney. Contact us at Atlas Chimney today to schedule an appointment for our professional installation services.