SWIFT NIGHT OUT

Thursday, September 4, 2025

5:00 PM until Dark

Geneva Lake Museum – 255 Mill Street, Lake Geneva, WI

Free admission and open to the public!

All bird watchers are invited to 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 year the City of Lake Geneva’s Avian Committee celebrates this natural phenomenon on Thursday, September 4 at the Geneva Lake Museum, 255 Mill St. in downtown Lake Geneva. Events 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 bird program inside the Museum, featuring a bald eagle and other raptors. At dusk, (around 7:15 pm) observers go outside to see 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 will swoop, creating a vortex as they dive inside to roost.

This awesome spectacle happens every year in early September as these small birds gather in large groups to begin their fall migration to South America. Beginning in late August the swifts gather and rest every night in some of the tall chimneys in the area. During the day they fly over the lakefront, devouring small insects, then, in a seemingly magical moment, the circling birds dive into the chimneys to rest 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 mph, but have been known to reach speeds of up to 100 mph. They spend almost their entire life eating and drinking on the wing and are unable to stand or perch on branches.

More than 250 community members and visitors attend this educational program each year and marvel at these amazing birds and their behaviors. 

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!