New Homes for Chimney Swifts

  • The almost-finished tower awaits its new residents on the grounds of the Orono School District's nature center next to Lake Claussen. (Photo courtesy of Stephanie Hemphill)

There’s one American bird that has an unusual habitat problem. Chimney Swifts have adapted in the past as humans encroached on their territory. But now changes in human behavior are presenting new problems for the birds. And some people are trying to help them adapt again. Stephanie Hemphill reports.

Transcript

There’s one American bird that has an unusual habitat problem. Chimney Swifts have adapted in the past as humans encroached on their territory. But now changes in human behavior are presenting new problems for the birds. And some people are trying to help them adapt again. Stephanie Hemphill reports.

In his dad’s window-and-door warehouse in the Minneapolis suburbs, Derek Meyer is supervising the boys in his scout troop as they build a wooden tower for Chimney Swifts.

They’re using rough plywood to build a narrow box twelve feet high with an opening about a foot square.

Derek is doing this project to earn the rank of Eagle Scout. In the process, he’s learned a few things about the lives of Chimney Swifts.

“They originally lived in hollow trees but when the settlers from Europe came over they started destroying the trees, so they decided to live in the chimneys, and then people started putting wire over their chimneys, so over the last 40 years they’ve lost half of their population.”

Not just wire, but rain caps and other devices to keep moisture and critters out of chimneys.

The new home these boys are building for Chimney Swifts is destined for the nature center next to a nearby school. The school district was planning to tear down an old brick chimney as part of a remodeling project. Rebecca Field found out about that, and she tried to stop it.

“I said, wait a minute, I’m sure there are Chimney Swifts in there and they’re really good birds because they eat about 2,000 insects a day, each of those birds. And their favorite insect is the mosquito.'”

Field is on the board of Audubon Minnesota, and she’d been watching the swifts hanging around the chimney in the evenings. Individually they look like fat cigars with wings, but when they get ready to swoop down into the chimney for the night, there are so many of them, they look like a funnel cloud.

“How they communicate I have no idea, how they put the brakes on when they dive into that chimney so quickly, it’s a mystery but it’s a fun thing to watch.”

In the end the school district decided to leave the chimney up.

So now, a few weeks later, and just in time for the Chimney Swifts to fly back up from the Amazon, the tower is standing on a concrete pad at the school’s nature center.

School naturalist Marleane Callaghan has already brought all her classes, grades three-through-five, to check it out.

“We’ve talked about the bird, what it looks like, the dimension of it, I’ve invited them to come back with their parents to watch in the school parking lot in the evening up at the high school where they’ve left the chimney, and then to walk on down, to be able to identify them.”

This project is part of an effort by Audubon groups all over the country to raise awareness of Chimney Swifts and their need for homes.

In Minnesota, project director Ron Windingstad wants to convince homeowners to make existing chimneys more welcoming. He says people can take the caps off their chimneys during the summer, or just raise them high enough so the birds can fly in from the sides.

Soon these school kids will be able to see the amazing acrobatics of the Chimney Swifts. Windingstad says they hardly ever stop flying, from morning til night. They’ll even sip water and take a bath in a nearby pond, without stopping.

“They’ll scoop down, lower their bill, and fly across it and drink in the water. They’ll use some of these shrubs around here to break off little twigs about the size of a wooden matchstick or toothpick actually, and use that to build their nests, and they do that while flying as well. They are marvelous creatures.”

For The Environment Report, I’m Stephanie Hemphill.

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Super Mosquito to Fight Malaria?

  • (Photo courtesy of the US Geological Survey)

Researchers have created a genetically
modified mosquito. Rebecca Williams reports the
scientists hope the mosquito will help save lives:

Transcript

Researchers have created a genetically
modified mosquito. Rebecca Williams reports the
scientists hope the mosquito will help save lives:

Malaria kills more than one million people every year. The disease is
spread by mosquitoes.

Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena is a researcher at Johns Hopkins Malaria
Research Institute. He’s part of a team that has bred a genetically
modified mosquito. It can’t get infected by the malaria parasite.

“If we go to a region where malaria is prevalent and we are able to
substitute the local mosquito population by the modified mosquito that
cannot carry the parasite, then the net effect will be interruption of
transmission.”

Jacobs-Lorena says they’re confident the super mosquito is safe to
release into the wild.

But he says they’ll have to convince a lot of people that it’s okay to let it
out of the lab.

For The Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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West Nile Virus Here to Stay

  • USGS Wildlife Veterinarian testing an American crow for previous exposure to the West Nile Virus (Photo courtesy of US Geological Survey)

We’re heading into West Nile virus season.
Rebecca Williams reports experts say it’s now a
seasonal epidemic:

Transcript

We’re heading into West Nile virus season.
Rebecca Williams reports experts say it’s now a
seasonal epidemic:

West Nile virus is at its peak between mid-July and mid-September.

You can get infected from a single mosquito bite.

Most people who get infected won’t get a serious case of it. But people
over 50 have a higher risk of getting really sick. The virus can cause
high fever, paralysis and even death.

Dr. Lyle Petersen is with the Centers for Disease Control. He says West
Nile Virus is here to stay. And he says even if your area hasn’t had an
outbreak recently, that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

“We really can’t predict exactly when and where these outbreaks are
going to occur so everybody needs to take precautions.”

He says you should use insect repellants, repair window screens, and
drain standing water around your house.

For The Environment Report I’m Rebecca Williams.

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The Buzz on Mosquito Repellants

  • A team is researching the next generation of bug sprays, some that may not be as smelly or as sticky as DEET (Photo by Lester Graham)

It’s summertime – sometimes known as
mosquito and tick season. For decades, bug
sprays with DEET have been the most effective
to keep those disease-carrying pests away.
But there are some new repellants on the
market – and even more to come. Julie Grant
has the buzz on bug sprays:

Transcript

It’s summertime – sometimes known as
mosquito and tick season. For decades, bug
sprays with DEET have been the most effective
to keep those disease-carrying pests away.
But there are some new repellants on the
market – and even more to come. Julie Grant
has the buzz on bug sprays:

Hot summer nights haven’t changed all that much since
1957. Sure, they’re selling sushi at ball parks these days.

(sound of baseball game)

But, for the most part, people are still using the same bug
spray.

DEET was designed in the 1950s for military use.
Stores started selling it soon after. At this kids’ baseball
game in northeast Ohio, there are as many opinions about
DEET and bug sprays as there are people.

Person 1: “I if I did use bug spray, I would use DEET. I heard that’s the
best.”

Person 2: “No, actually, I am concerned about any kind of chemical. I
don’t like to use it. I don’t think it’s necessary.”

Person 3: “I’ve been scratching all week.”

Julie Grant: “Why don’t you use it?”

Person 3: “Stinks.”

Person 4: “Probably looking for something without DEET, of course,
which is pretty much outlawed anyway.”

Child: “I have a bug bite on my neck.”


Person 4: “Yes, you do have a bug bite on your neck, which is why
we need to go look for something.”


Actually, DEET is not even close to being outlawed. It’s used
hundreds of millions of times each year – by backyard
barbeque-ers and soldiers, alike.

In all these years, there have been only fifty reports of skin
problems or seizures – and those were attributed to gross
overuse, and couldn’t be definitely connected to DEET.

But it is a plasticizer. If it touches your watch face, it will
smear the plastic. And that makes people a little nervous.

And while it does drive away a wide array of bugs, including
mosquitoes that carry West Nile Virus, DEET does not protect
against mosquitoes that carry malaria, or ticks that carry
lyme disease and rocky mountain spotted fever.

The worst thing about DEET for lots of people is that
stickiness and that evil smell.

Trisha Branden is a health editor with Consumer Reports
magazine. She says lots of people just don’t like using
DEET.

“But I think everyone has their own sensitivity, particularly
when it comes to the smell and feel of DEET. It’s better to
have some protection than none at all.”

Consumer Reports has surveyed bug sprays and crèmes on
the market.

They found that the higher the concentration of
DEET, the longer it protects you from bugs. At the highest
level, 98% DEET, it lasted half a day.
But some products contain as little as 7% DEET because it
smells so bad.

Some people want something else. The EPA recently
approved a new chemical – called Picaridin. It smells better.
Consumer Reports found that Picaridin products kept
mosquitoes away for up to four hours. That’s not too bad.

It’s better than the natural products. If you use soybean or
peppermint oil, Branden says you’ll probably have to reapply
a lot – at least every two hours.

“If you compare that to Picaridin product or the low DEET
products, that is not nearly the protection.”

Chemist Ulrich Burnier is on a team researching the next
generation of bug sprays. He believes there are more
effective chemicals out there. They’ve tested thousands of
chemicals and narrowed it down to seven.

“If we’re successful, the ideal product will give you 24 hours
protection, so you only have to apply once a day, you’ll be
protected around the clock. It’s not a plasticizer. And,
actually, this morning, I spent time trying to pick up odors
from these seven compounds, and none of us participating in this
study could detect any disagreeable odors from any of these
compounds.”

DEET still works pretty well. But mosquitoes and other
invading insects are thriving. As we experience climate
change, levels of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria are
on the rise.

(sound of baseball game)

When you’re at your nephew’s baseball game, and fending
off bugs, you might need to be a little patient. It could take a
few years. But experts say you should be able to find new
products that you like and that work for you.

For The Environment Report, I’m Julie Grant.

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Testing a Better Bug Spray

  • The USDA is testing a new bug spray to ward off mosquitos and other pests (Photo by Lester Graham)

Researchers are working on new chemicals
to keep mosquitoes from biting. The Environment
Report’s Mark Brush reports they might have found
a better alternative to DEET:

Transcript

Researchers are working on new chemicals
to keep mosquitoes from biting. The Environment
Report’s Mark Brush reports they might have found
a better alternative to DEET:

The EPA says DEET is safe to use on your skin. But the repellent’s smell and stickiness
turns some people off. And spraying DEET on your skin won’t protect you from all types
of mosquitoes.

So researchers are working on alternatives.

Uli Bernier is research chemist with the USDA. He says their research team is looking
for a compound that will work against some of the most dangerous mosquitoes.

“DEET works against a great variety of insects, but not against all of them. And in
particular some of the malaria transmitting mosquitoes will bite through DEET without
difficulty.”

Bernier says their research has turned up some chemicals that do a better job than DEET.
The chemicals keep mosquitoes from biting for up to three times longer. Bernier says their
next step will be to test the chemicals for possible human health effects and for their
effectiveness on other insects.

(mosquito buzzing sound)

For The Environment Report (sound of swat) – gotcha – I’m Mark Brush.

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