A tower at Brooke Elementary School may soon be home to Chimney Swifts! Last week, Greg Smith of Jamail & Smith Construction with B.J. Electric volunteered their services to remove a cap on an unused chimney on this East Austin school property.

Chimney Swifts are birds that used to live in large hollow trees, but as large trees disappeared they began to use chimneys. Now modern chimneys are often capped and made of slick metal creating an extremely limited amount of habitat for Chimney Swifts to nest and raise their young.

The recent uncapping at Brooke Elementary is part of an ongoing initiative to identify and preserve Chimney Swift habitat as well as raise awareness about the need for Chimney Swift conservation. If you would like to get involved with this project, please contact volunteer@travisaudubon.org