When the chimney swifts return to Bethlehem this spring, the migratory birds will find that their social status got kicked up a few notches during their absence.
Bethlehem City Council voted Tuesday night to name the aerial acrobats the city’s official bird after a lobbying campaign by a remarkable group of Freemansburg Elementary School fourth graders.
The plight of these urban dwellers popped into the community’s consciousness late last year as Bethlehem resident Jennie Glirain fought to save a favorite habitat of the local swift community: The chimney of Bethlehem’s Masonic Temple.
It houses tens of thousands of chimney swifts each fall migration season, but the Masonic Temple was slated for the wrecking ball as part of the redevelopment of the adjacent Wilbur Mansion.
Gilrain contacted developer John Noble to explain to him how pivotal the temple’s chimney is to the migratory swift’s ecosystem and Noble quickly got on board with the goal of either saving the chimney or building a new habitat. A GoFundMe is ongoing to raise $50,000 for the effort.
“Once you realize the impact this thing has on potentially tens of thousands of birds,” Noble said in December, “it becomes a no-brainer.”
Gilrain petitioned Bethlehem City Council to elevate the birds to the honor, gaining the support of the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society, the local chapter of the Sierra Club and Bethlehem’s Environmental Advisory Council. She used the birds to teach her fourth-grade students about habitat loss and then some of them called into Tuesday night’s meeting.
A "screaming frenzy" of chimney swifts.Courtesy of Jennie Gilrain
Swifts have called Bethlehem home since the industrial revolution, taking up residence in the city’s many rough, vertical surfaces. Swifts populations are in sharp decline; the population is estimated to have decreased by 72% since the mid-1960s.
Councilwoman Olga Negron introduced the resolution to name the chimney swifts as the city’s official bird.
“There’s a lot of potential for us to use that in many different ways, but more than anything to save the chimney swifts,” Negron said.
Making chimney swifts the city bird could draw birdwatchers and boost the local economy, Negron said. Local community economies benefit from the $14.9 million bird watchers spend on food, lodging and transportation, which created 666,000 jobs in 2011, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services National Survey, the resolution notes.
Swifts are voracious insect eaters — some estimates say they eat 2,000 per day — and they are relatively clean birds, the resolution notes.
The measure garnered enthusiastic support from council.
Councilman J. William Reynolds thanked the students who called into the meeting and praised them for their comments.
“Please don’t ever stop calling your government and telling us what you think,” Councilwoman Paige Van Wirt said. “It was wonderful.”
Councilman Michael Colon said he first learned of chimney swifts during a summer walk in a park with structure for chimney swifts to roost. He suggested this could be a great Eagle Scout project for local students.
“It would be a low maintenance addition to any of our local parks and could have even an education piece potentially ,” Colon said.
Gilrain said a month ago that she’s in the process of applying for a grant from the Lehigh Valley Engaged Humanities Consortium that would help to set up public forums with the Bethlehem Area Public Library to educate residents on not only the birds themselves, but changing construction methods to benefit them.
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Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.
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Did you know Bethlehem now has an official bird? Meet the chimney swift. - lehighvalleylive.com
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