Coming Home to Roost
LOCATION:
Bath, ME
ORGANIZATION:
Merrymeeting Audubon
GRANT AMOUNT:
$7,500.00
ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED IN PROJECT
When thinking of public monuments, structures like the Statue of Liberty or Mount Rushmore are probably the first to come to mind. Merrymeeting Audubon and the Town of Brunswick, however, have a different kind of monument in mind: the Brunswick Chimney Swift roost!
For years, an existing 1930s-era high school has supported migratory flocks of Maine Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica). It is the largest roost site documented in the State of Maine and as such serves as critical migratory roosting habitat for both swifts passing through on their way north and resident swifts that breed in the Brunswick-Topsham area. However, the former high school was torn down during summer of 2009 to make way for a new school on the same site—and the future ability of swifts’ to find a replacement roost in the region is threatened.
With the help of a TogetherGreen Innovation Grant, Merrymeeting Audubon is not only attempting to preserve the regionally significant swift roost, but also to incorporate a replacement roost structure into the design of the new school, which is being planned to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.
In addition to the replacement tower, educational signage about the swifts’ plight will be posted in highly trafficked areas of the school. Merrymeeting Audubon will work with the school and the Town of Brunswick to coordinate public Swift Night Out events and integrate the chimney swift story into classroom lessons.
Currently there are no protected swift roosts in the state of Maine. Completion of this project will mark the first formal action to conserve this rapidly declining species statewide. It is also hoped that it will inspire local homeowners to protect or create their own chimney swift nesting structures and increase awareness of the swifts that return to Maine each summer.