Freedom Park Conservancy in partnership with Atlanta Audubon Society, with help from the Georgia Wildlife Viewing Grant, and Park Pride has installed a new home for an aerobatic little bird known as the Chimney Swift. Located in Freedom Park at the corner of North Avenue and Candler Park Drive, the garden is a site for the reintroduction of native plants and shrubs for bird and pollinator habitat.
The Chimney Swift Tower features a 12-foot structure to allow opportunities to view wildlife and to educate the public about conservation tools that will help vulnerable species such as the Chimney Swift. Throughout the year, the tower will serve as an anchor at the Freedom Park site, where Atlanta Audubon and partner organizations can lead regular programs, drawing more people to view and appreciate native habitat, wildlife, and local conservation efforts.
“Chimney Swifts are such incredible birds. They undergo amazing migrations, stay aloft more than almost all other species, and have repeatedly adapted to share the urban environment with us humans. Despite their resiliency, these birds are in trouble. We at Georgia Audubon are very excited to be partnering with Freedom Park and the City of Atlanta to bring a swift tower to the park and the surrounding community. We hope this tower will not only bring a necessary nesting and roosting location to the area but will also educate the public on the value of our urban green spaces and the wildlife that uses them”
— Adam Betuel, Director of Conservation, Georgia Audubon
The Chimney Swift tower installation and native pollinator planting (coming Fall 2021) will complement the existing bird and pollinator-friendly habitat work that has been completed by the Freedom Park Conservancy and their partners of the Freedom Park Bird and Wildflower Garden. Certified as an Atlanta Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary the garden is a site for the reintroduction of native plants and shrubs for bird and pollinator habitat.
“This has been a very exciting project to lead and work on with the help of many volunteers. After a year in lock-down from Covid, this project was a joy to be able to get outside and work with community volunteers to be able to give something positive to the community and to Freedom Park, including the upcoming native pollinator garden that will surround the tower in Autumn 2021.”
—Michael Ross, Freedom Park Conservancy Board Director.
The Chimney Swift tower will not only provide nesting and roosting space for the habitat-threatened chimney swift, but it will also increase opportunities for wildlife viewing annual “Swift Night Out” events co-sponsored by Atlanta Audubon and Freedom Park Conservancy.
Donations are welcomed to help Freedom Park Conservancy continue projects like this that support and encourage the preservation of native habitats.