Swift Tower Placed at UNL East Campus

By James Ed. Ducey, Nebraska

A new tower for chimney swifts is to soon be placed on East Campus with the goal of having the birds use the tower for nesting and raising young.

“The tower is being provided as nesting sites were lost when the Antelope Valley Project started, so this is to help replace some of those chimneys,” said Jeff Culbertson, East Campus Landscape Manager and Curator of the Maxwell Arboretum.

“Several individuals felt it would be a good thing to provide a tower, and we have the staff and equipment for its construction,” said Culbertson. “I worked with some talented folks in School of Natural Resources Sciences to get ideas on plans and locating the tower, including Ron Johnson, Extension Wildlife Specialist.”

“Its dimensions are about 4 feet square and is 12 feet tall. It will be 2 feet off the ground so the top will be 14 feet off of the ground once installed,” Culbertson said. Plans found on a Texas chimney swift website were slightly modified for the construction.

The Tower will be located at the east end of the reestablished prairie setting north of Hardin Hall. This will allow ready access to staff and students of SNRS in the nearby hall, Culbertson said. “Hopefully the surrounding habitat will also be beneficial to the swifts.”

Landscape Services and staff of SNRS will monitor the tower. “As a staff we find this to be an interesting and exciting project,” Culbertson said. “Wildlife use the landscape we maintain on campus, so the prospect of having birds we are not as familiar with coming to campus and hopefully being successful is exciting. If we have swifts using the tower I am certain there will be use of the site by classes in the SNRS.”

- - - - -

Chimney Swift Tower Installed

A new nesting and roosting tower for chimney swifts has been installed at East Campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Dani McNeil, Shane Anderson, Jayson, and David Guenther, of UNL Landscape Services, at the newly installed tower for the Chimney Swifts.

General location of the swift tower, north of Hardin Hall. The ropes are temporary, holding the tower in place until the newly poured concrete hardens.

Final touches to the installation, started on the 16th, were being completed mid-day, May 17th.

People involved with the project are excited to see when Chimney Swifts will arrive and take advantage of the newest swift habitat in Lincoln.