New Exhibitat Welcomes Home the Chimney Swift
The Atlanta Audubon Society, in partnership with the Piedmont Park Conservancy, City of Atlanta Parks and Recreation Department, has installed a new home for an exceptional little bird known as the Chimney Swift. You may have already noticed the chimney-like tower in the northern area of Piedmont Park called the Piedmont Commons. It sits amidst a verdant field of flowers and grasses that will attract pollinators and other insects, which fosters a vibrant and exciting natural habitat for the chimney swift to prosper.
This new addition to wildlife preservation in Piedmont Park blends perfectly with the Conservancy’s Field Trip programs, bringing another unique and important education opportunity to the children of Atlanta as they interact with nature. The tower and surrounding area also presents a new beautiful aesthetic for all to enjoy in the North area of the Park!
The unveiling was a lively and creative event which kicked off with local nonprofits and artists participating in a chalk festival. Each chalk display showed a little piece of the organization’s soul and passion for Georgia conservation efforts, and proved that members of these organizations have no shortage of artistic skill!
Thank you, Krystal Collier and Kalia Edmonds, for your amazing chalk contribution!
Chalk Festival Winner: Sierra Club
After the festival, guests mingled and viewed the tower while enjoying cheese, fruit, and an Orpheus beer brewed specially for the occasion, aptly named “Little Birds Have Fast Hearts.” Since the Chimney Swift tower was the result of great partnerships between multiple nonprofits to bring a dream to life, there were many speakers contributing words of support and gratitude.
“If we are able to expose our kids to nature, I believe that we can solve a lot of the world’s problems,” says Piedmont Park Conservancy President & CEO Mark Banta, as he explains how this tower is a great addition to our camp and field trip program.
Finally, to celebrate the official grand opening of the tower, the event concluded with a ribbon cutting.
You may still be asking yourself, who is this bird, and what does the tower do for it?
The Chimney Swift loves living in tight spaces with a large group of other Chimney Swifts, and due to their very short legs, they can only perch on vertical surfaces. Over the years, this has led these birds to most commonly find a home in the chimneys of human houses. Chimneys, however, are on the decline, leaving many Chimney Swifts hard-pressed to find a suitable living situation. Piedmont Park’s new Chimney Swift tower will be the perfect new home for many as they begin to gather after their mating season. Don’t forget to watch for the little aerobatic birds coming and going from Piedmont Park’s new chimney!
Author: William Lange
