Swift Care Ontario
PO Box 2012 N0L1R0 Komoka, ON, Canada

As cold weather sets in, many birds welcome the availability of extra fat as a food source.

‘About 94% of the world’s 160,000 moth species pupate in leaf litter..’

As an escape from the tense, fraught news cycle, take time out to watch The Messenger, a Canadian documentary first released five years ago. If you have not seen it, it is worth taking an hour or so to do so. If you have seen it before, it is still worth watching again. Enjoy.https://vimeo.com/209656215/b9503ec26e

Just for fun, here's a Rosy Starling on a mission!

On a long trip, finding a motel along the way is a welcome way to take a break and have a rest. Resourceful birds on migration gave found their version of motels so they, too, can have a mostly safe rest.

Human activity is too often reckless and thoughtless. Not only are we encroaching on and harming wildlife, we are harming ourselves. We have only to look at this pandemic ravaging the world as a result of inappropriate human contact with wildlife to understand that.

Like our aerial insectivore species (Swifts, Nighthawks and Whip-poor-wills), Purple Martins migrate to wintering grounds in the Amazon Basin. Sadly, once again this year, they will be encountering habitat loss and poor food sources thanks to the ongoing fires set to clear rainforest for human use.

You not only feed the birds but also provide compost for the soil.

Such grim news! Catastrophic wildfires, extreme summer temperatures, plummeting insect populations....... in short, the disaster of climate change, makes survival impossible for so many wildlife species.

Family members have been sending us photographs of eerie orange skies, cars looking snow-covered with falling ash and describing the challenge of breathing thick smoky air. Humans are not the only ones struggling to cope with this nightmare scenario.

Each year on 9/11, two powerful light beams are turned on to mark the anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers. This event coincides with peak migration time for millions of songbirds and endangers their lives. About 4 years ago, a compromise was reached. When observers on the ground see large flocks of birds become disoriented and "trapped" in the beams overhead, the lights are temporarily turned off to "free" the birds. Light pollution is a major hazard for migrating birds and bats.

When Vultures need to be taken into care because of injury or illness, one of the occupational hazards for their care providers is that they use vomit as a defense mechanism. Those of us who have experienced being puked on by a vulture can never forget the horrendous stench of semi-digested rotting fleshThat being said, they still are magnificent creatures

Some vultures even moonlight as groomers

In honour of World Vulture Day today.

Patricia Ward enjoys a moment with a monarch butterfly before it's released into the wild, free to continue an age old journey to Mexico. This summer, Patricia... and other residents of St. Joseph’s Veterans Care Program helped raise monarch butterflies through a partnership with Swift Care Ontario. Over the last couple of years, residents have helped maintain a butterfly garden at Parkwood Institute to provide a safe haven for our pollinating friends before they depart for the winter. See more

This ingeniously designed drone provides an excellent (and safe) way to film Monarchs!

To continue the theme, here is another image that presents some challenge. At a first, quick glance, it is not easy to find two relatives of the Common Nighthawks and Eastern Whip-poor-wills that we take into care.

Just for fun, here is an intriguing image that has been doing the rounds on social media.

Far more concerted efforts are made to study and conserve the various Swift species that breed in Europe, the Middle and Far East than are made on behalf of the species found in North America. There are numerous examples of specially-constructed nesting sites such as this one described in this interesting blog. https://www.osme.org//common-swifts-in-iran-a-conservatio/

Blue footed Boobys are simply stunning. A Mama with two babies is even more delightful to see

When it comes to interior decoration, the Bower Bird clearly is the consummate professional!

For some weekend reading, here is a beautifully written pandemic essay inspired by the Common Swift relatives of our Chimney Swifts.

It is delicate work feeding hatchlings of any species but nothing can rival the challenge of feeding chicks this tiny!! Great work!