08/08/2026
***Patient of the Week***
Aerial insectivores, or birds that eat insects while in flight, are some of the higher maintenance birds we care for. While all baby bird species require multiple assisted feedings throughout the day, most of these birds need assistance the entire time they are in rehabilitation, no matter their age. In the wild, they feed only on the wing. We can get some of the swallows to feed themselves if we rig up a hanging feeder of live insects near a favorite perch, but the swifts and nighthawks eat directly from a keeper. Currently in one of the new large outdoor songbird flight enclosures, we have swifts, swallows, and nighthawks together so the bird keepers can visit several times a day to drop some tasty insect mash, or some mealworms or waxworms, directly into their gaping beaks. Instincts take over when they are released, and release sites are carefully chosen to ensure they are in the right habitat to find the insects they require.
Chimney swifts spend almost their entire day in flight, aside from roosting at night or while nesting. They are unable to perch like most songbirds, instead clinging to rough vertical surfaces. As their name implies, chimneys are an ideal spot. Maybe not as ideal for the homeowners as they are VERY loud babies. Wild roosting and nest locations occur along cliffs, in caves, or in hollow trees or cavities. The young stay in the nest for several weeks and begin taking short flights nearby. Unlike other fledglings, swifts don’t learn to fly from the ground up, but cling vertically until they can maintain hours of sustained flight.
Common nighthawks also require staff-assisted feeding while in rehab and are used to being mistaken for bark. They nest in open areas like gravel and rocks, or on the forest floor, relying on their excellent camouflage to stay safe. In flight they are agile, looping at dawn and dusk to catch flying insects. White stripes on the undersides of their wings help to identify them in flight; at rest, they are inconspicuous. A tiny beak opens to an alarmingly wide mouth, perfect for feeding.
The swallows can be taught how to self-feed and can also learn to eat on the wing while in care. However, it isn’t easy to maintain flying insects in an outdoor aviary, so keeper assistance is still necessary. We most often treat barn swallows and just released several in the last couple weeks. We currently have one bank swallow that has made friends with the chimney swifts and can be found clinging in their group. This smart little swallow will fly over when food is offered to grab it out of the air.
The new songbird flight enclosures are excellent training grounds for these birds that really need the practice. Certainly flight is crucial to most birds, but these species that spend so much time in the air chasing down flying meals really need these spaces to spread their wings.
