Save Our Swifts

Vaux Swift Roost in Monroe School Chimney

Each September thousand of migrating Vaux ‘s Swifts roost in Monroe School District’s Frank Wagner Elementary school chimney to rest while on their southern migration from northwestern Canada through Washington State to central America and Venezuela.  The evening arrival of the swifts at the chimney is an incredible sight and we invite you to come watch.

The school chimney is in bad repair and is considered a danger to students.  The big question is how to preserve the chimney as a critical environmental resource for the future for the Vaux’s Swifts, while at the same time ensuring student safety. 

Save Our Swifts Committee

The SOS Committee was formed to study their migration and to preserve their habitat.  The Monroe Swift Watch in September and the Swift Night Out Festival on September 12, 2009 are sponsored by Eastside Audubon, Pilchuck Audubon, Seattle Audubon, and other local organizations. 

How Can I Help?

For more information on how you can help save our swifts, please contact Jim Rettig, our representative on the Save Our Swifts Steering Committee, at jrettig@eastsideaudubon.org.  Jim can also answer questions about how you can become an official swift observer or serve as a docent to answer questions during the Monroe Swift Watch in September.

New opportunity - Help Larry Schwitters count swifts roosting in the Old School House chimney in Selleck, WA.  Please contact him at lpatters@ix.netcom.com.

Resources

• PIlchuck Audubon
• Save Our Swifts
  
• Seattle Audubon
  
• Vaux's Swifts - Birdweb
• Eastside Audubon
• Vaux's Swifts - Bird Gallery
• 2007-2008 Events, Articles and Videos
  
• The Monroe Swifts - video by Doug Plummer
  
• 2008 Monroe Swift Night Out brochure
• Vaux's Happening 2008 - goals, Vaux Swift study, collected 2008 data, F.A.Q. - Larry Schwitters
• Strength of Community by Christy Anderson
  [Corvid Crier - October, 2008]
  
• Hundreds Flock to Monroe to Watch Migrating Birds
  [Seattle Times - September 19, 2008]
• Vaux's Swift Roosting Sites around the state
• Vaux's Swifts at Monroe (September 8, 2007)