Chimney Swifts are strange birds. They are raucous when hungry (one name for a group of swifts is a “screaming frenzy”), never stand on level surfaces, fly constantly, and roost in chimneys huddled into half-nests which are glued together by the mother’s saliva. If that wasn’t odd enough, their method of release is most extraordinary.
Typically, you have to find a large flue or chimney where a wild flock lives. The group will do their daily hunt, and then, just as night-time fully claims the light of day, they gather and fly as a group to their roost. Arriving at the top of a chimney, this dispersed flock suddenly takes a formation that suggests they are being poured from a huge invisible pitcher. A narrow gathering forms among those nearest their destination, and they fly into the chimney like a stream of poured milk.
When you are ready to release rehabilitated birds, it goes like this: you remove the cover of their container or box as you see the wild swifts approach. The little ones chirp, and the flock hears them! Two or three wild birds come down towards the new recruits and guide them back to the gathering, and together they enter their nighttime accommodations. It is a marvelous thing to behold. And that’s how it usually happens. Until last night…
There were eight swifts to be released. Two of our volunteers went to one of the two chimneys in the area where swifts roost, but no swifts appeared in the sky. They drove to the other site. Same result. They were both very despondent. As a last resort, they went back to the first chimney. No swifts.
Suddenly, one swift appeared out of nowhere, then another and another! Then, an entire congregation was directly overhead, perhaps one hundred birds circling around and around. It seemed to be a Heaven-sent kaleidoscope winging in circles and calling out. Our to-be-released birds became aware of the calls and got excited. Amidst all this energy, there must have come a whisper only they could hear:
Come with us…
Their box was opened, and the birds exploded into the flock. As if this were not amazing enough, what happened next defies mortal explanation. The whole congregation flew off into the night, not into their nearby chimney! This congregation was on a special mission: they had been sent to re-claim our little refugees, and take them to their God-assigned home; and to completely and utterly astound two speechless human beings.
But then, miracles often have that effect on us.
Lucky Garvin
