Chimney swifts could become tourist draw in Mabou, says biologist

Some long-time summer residents of Mabou could become the area's newest tourist draw.

A biologist from New Brunswick isencouraging the small Cape Breton village to promote its population of chimney swifts, a threatened species whoseaerobatics make them of interest to eco-tourists.

Allison Manthorne, theco-ordinator of Maritime SwiftWatch, saidit's not hard to understand what draws her to chimney swifts.

"Just after sunset,the sky is nice androsypink and you see these birdssilhouettedin that setting sun," she said.

"They swirl around in a kind of spiral. And then all of a sudden one will decide to go down into the chimney and then it'll just drop like a stone, and the others will start following it.

"What you see is this big, dark cloud kind of getting sucked down into that chimney."

• See chimney swifts in action

Over the past 40 years, the number of chimney swifts has declined by about 95 per centacross Canadaand they're considered endangered in Nova Scotia.

Opportunity for birds and birders

Mabou'sSt. Mary's church is home toone of only 10 known roosting sites in the province, and the only one in Cape Breton.Manthornecallsthatan opportunity.

"For example, in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, people do come from all over the country and all over the world to see these swifts," she said.

Inverness County Coun.Betty Ann MacQuarrie saidshe always thought the swifts were bats,but she'll be watching more closely now.She hopes eager birders will come to do the same.

"They may just be passing through,or they may stay for a few days, because they are hard to spot," she said. "So they may camp down for a couple of days."

Manthorne saidshe'll meet with businesses and community groups in Mabou over the winter to help raiseawareness about the local swift population. She hopes thatwill boost efforts to protect the birds.