Save Our Chimney Swifts
Save Our Chimney Swifts
The Issue
This Summer, Cabarrus County Schools is going to take a wrecking ball to Beverly Hills Elementary School, destroying the home of hundreds of endangered chimney swifts that reside there.
WHAT ARE CHIMNEY SWIFTS?
“The chimney swift is a neotropical migratory bird protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). Thus, harassing, injuring, or killing swifts, their eggs and their nests is illegal. Chimney swifts arrive in the U.S. in March or April to breed and roost and then depart in August or September for South America’s upper Amazon basin of Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and Brazil, where they like to spend the winter.” Chimney swifts are unlike other birds in the way that they cannot perch, needing a vertical surface to cling to and rest. If Cabarrus County tears the school down, it will destroy one of the few habitats they have left.“During fall migration, swifts gather by the hundreds to thousands to spend nights together inside masonry chimneys that are usually larger than nesting chimneys. When re-entering these migration staging roosts at dusk, thousands of chimney swifts can create a swirling vortex that captures the interest and imaginations of crowds of people who gather to view these stunning displays in neighborhoods across the U.S. These events are called Swift Nights Out or Swift Sits. At these events people not only enjoy watching the spectacle of so many birds flying together, but they also count the number of birds entering the roosts to help conserve them.”
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Other than signing and adding to this petition, you can help the cause by contacting these emails and urging them to save the swifts:
Brian Cone
Director of Architecture, Planning, and Construction
brian.cone@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
George “Tim” Lowder
Executive Director Operations
george.lowder@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
John Kopicki
Superintendent
john.kopicki@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
BOARD OF EDUCATION
denise.adcock@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
pamela.escobar@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
sam.treadaway@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
robert.walter@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
brian.floyd@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
laura.blackwell@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
keshia.sandidge@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
CABARRUS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
smmorris@cabarruscounty.us
cameasmer@cabarruscounty.us
kmwortman@cabarruscounty.us
lwshue@cabarruscounty.us
tafurr@cabarruscounty.us
625
The Issue
This Summer, Cabarrus County Schools is going to take a wrecking ball to Beverly Hills Elementary School, destroying the home of hundreds of endangered chimney swifts that reside there.
WHAT ARE CHIMNEY SWIFTS?
“The chimney swift is a neotropical migratory bird protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). Thus, harassing, injuring, or killing swifts, their eggs and their nests is illegal. Chimney swifts arrive in the U.S. in March or April to breed and roost and then depart in August or September for South America’s upper Amazon basin of Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and Brazil, where they like to spend the winter.” Chimney swifts are unlike other birds in the way that they cannot perch, needing a vertical surface to cling to and rest. If Cabarrus County tears the school down, it will destroy one of the few habitats they have left.“During fall migration, swifts gather by the hundreds to thousands to spend nights together inside masonry chimneys that are usually larger than nesting chimneys. When re-entering these migration staging roosts at dusk, thousands of chimney swifts can create a swirling vortex that captures the interest and imaginations of crowds of people who gather to view these stunning displays in neighborhoods across the U.S. These events are called Swift Nights Out or Swift Sits. At these events people not only enjoy watching the spectacle of so many birds flying together, but they also count the number of birds entering the roosts to help conserve them.”
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Other than signing and adding to this petition, you can help the cause by contacting these emails and urging them to save the swifts:
Brian Cone
Director of Architecture, Planning, and Construction
brian.cone@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
George “Tim” Lowder
Executive Director Operations
george.lowder@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
John Kopicki
Superintendent
john.kopicki@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
BOARD OF EDUCATION
denise.adcock@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
pamela.escobar@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
sam.treadaway@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
robert.walter@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
brian.floyd@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
laura.blackwell@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
keshia.sandidge@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
CABARRUS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
smmorris@cabarruscounty.us
cameasmer@cabarruscounty.us
kmwortman@cabarruscounty.us
lwshue@cabarruscounty.us
tafurr@cabarruscounty.us
625
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Petition created on May 28, 2024