AMERICANALMANAC (Charles McAdams) - Four thousand swifts spiral into an Oregon church chimney in annual migration spectacle
Roughly 4,000 Vaux's swifts descended on a Salem, Oregon church at dusk, swirling above the steeple and plunging into its chimney in a display that had social-media viewers half-joking about the apocalypse. The birds funneled into the brick chimney of Salem First United Methodist Church on September 6, forming what onlookers described as a living […] The post Four thousand swifts spiral into an Oregon church chimney in annual migration spectacle appeared first on American Almanac .
Roughly 4,000 Vaux's swifts descended on a Salem, Oregon church at dusk, swirling above the steeple and plunging into its chimney in a display that had social-media viewers half-joking about the apocalypse. The birds funneled into the brick chimney of Salem First United Methodist Church on September 6, forming what onlookers described as a living cyclone above the building before vanishing inside, one wave after another, to roost for the night. Willamette University professor David P Craig captured the spectacle on video and shared it on Instagram , where the footage quickly spread. The event is part of a well-documented annual pattern. Vaux's swifts, tiny birds measuring no more than five inches long and weighing just over half an…Open