Swift Night Out

FREE Educational Bird Program

Geneva Lake Museum

Thursday, September 5, 2024

5:00 PM until Dusk

Witness an amazing show of nature at Swift Night Out as thousands of acrobatic Chimney Swifts circle and swoop into Geneva Lake Museum’s tall chimney. This awesome spectacle happens every year in early September as the small birds gather in large groups to begin their fall migration to South America. Swifts are common to this area. During the day they fly over the lakefront, devouring small insects, and rest every night in some of the uncapped brick chimneys in the area. In late August and early September they begin to gather in large numbers and circle the chimneys at dusk. Then, in a seemingly magical moment, the circling birds dive into the chimneys to roost.

This year the City of Lake Geneva’s Avian Committee celebrates this natural phenomenon on Thursday, September 5 at the Geneva Lake Museum, 255 Mill St. in downtown Lake Geneva. Swift Night Out is a FREE educational event, featuring these amazing chimney diving birds, food trucks for folks and the Schlitz Audubon’s famous “Raptors and Friends Program.” The annual event is open to anyone and everyone who appreciates the birds that populate our community.

Activities begin at 5:00 pm with food for purchase from local food trucks. At 6:00 pm the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center will present a special birding program featuring a bald eagle and other raptors. At dusk, the crowd is invited to go outside to watch the migrating Chimney Swifts gather by the thousands and begin to circle the museum’s chimney. As if at a single cue, these little aerobatic swifts swoop, creating a vortex as they dive inside to roost for the night. Swift Night Out is a continent wide effort to raise awareness about – and encourage interest in – Chimney Swifts and their declining population.

Swifts are small dark birds with curved wings, often called “flying cigars” due to their little rounded bodies and stubby tails. They emit a high-pitched chatter as they dive and swoop for insects and are often mistaken for similarly sized bats. Swifts are one of the fastest flying animals on earth, averaging 18 – 30 miles per hour, but having been known to reach speeds of up to 100 mph. They spend almost their entire life eating and drinking on the wing. Their feet are not designed to perch on branches, instead they have “toes” that cling to upright surfaces, like cliffs, brick chimneys and old dead trees.

Swift Night Out in Lake Geneva is an educational program presented by the City of Lake Geneva Avian Committee. This event is free and open to all. Be sure to bring binoculars and cameras to capture this amazing event!

Details:

Swift Night Out
Thursday, September 5, 2024
Geneva Lake Museum – 255 Mill Street, Lake Geneva, WI

5:00 pm. Food trucks open.

6:00 pm. Schlitz Audubon Nature Center “Raptor and Friends” program

7:15 pm until dark. Birds began their aerial displays