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- NARRATOR: In the growing city of Lakeway,
intermixed within these houses,
there's a preserve of sorts called Chaetura Canyon.
- GEORGEAN KYLE: Just watch your footing.
- We can see the swifts a little bit,
but it's a little closed in here.
We'll get to see some good swift activity
at the house tonight.
- NARRATOR: And here, there's a patio party
about to get underway.
- We work hard all week,
and then when we have folks out like this.
This is what we do for fun.
So, appreciate you coming out.
- NARRATOR: This is Paul...
- There's a mated pair.
- NARRATOR: ...and Georgean's place.
- They'll crisscross.
- NARRATOR: And these folks are here to see some
chimney swifts.
- PAUL: Their numbers are declining dramatically,
they're down by probably 50, 60% since the 60s
here in the United States, and Canada, they are on the
threatened and endangered list, they've lost 90% of their
chimney swift population.
- GEORGEAN: This is now our standard
chimney swift structure.
- NARRATOR: For these two the birds are more than a
fleeting hobby, they've been their life's passion.
- The swifts need all the help they can get.
- They do!
- NARRATOR: They're swift saviors.
- They are very unique,
very beneficial and they are in very serious decline,
mainly because of loss of habitat.
- NARRATOR: It was back in the 80's when these two met
their first Chimney swifts.
- GEORGEAN: We have pretty much dedicated our lives to the
little black birds that stole our heart.
We had no idea what a chimney swift was until we were
presented one in a rehabilitation situation.
[hatchling chirps]
He's two days of age.
A lady found him crawling across her carpet.
- PAUL: We had incubators, and interim housing,
and then flight conditioning cages and what not.
And we took care of over 1,200 baby chimney swifts
over the 19 years that we did wildlife rehabilitation.
There's something in your heart that makes you want to help one
when you see it injured or get a call from someone
that has an injured bird.
I suppose the big payoff is when you take a bird,
take it outside and open up your hands, it fly's off.
It's like magic.
- NARRATOR: Chimney swifts are quite unique,
unable to perch or stand upright,
they rely on a certain type of habitat
that's disappearing rapidly.
- GEORGEAN: Historically, they roosted in large hollow trees,
and those are not allowed to stand anymore.
They then moved into brick chimney's,
but now most of those are aging
and many are being capped or torn down.
[saw whirs]
So we went on a journey
[saw whirs]
attempting to create habitat for these birds.
- NARRATOR: The habitat, their own take on a
swift-friendly chimney.
[drill hammers]
- So, what we do is we cut these two by two-inch
treated wood cleats.
Then we've got a nice, almost two-inch-wide piece,
so we can attach the top or the bottom to.
You want to make sure that you really line it up.
[drill hammers]
Taking the time to design one that was relatively
easy to build and kind of a kit form.
It has worked out very well.
- NARRATOR: And these two seem to work well together too.
- Ah, we've been married for forty- forty-nine years
believe it or not.
- Yeah, we're a good team.
Georgean really knows where to step in
when I need an extra hand.
[drill hammers]
Last one.
[drill hammers]
It just fits in there like a tongue and groove.
Coming down, coming down, great!
The perfect home for chimney swifts,
it's a nice rough surface,
little grooves for them to hold on to,
attach their nest.
Ya, basically anybody that can use a few power tools
and read a tape measure can build one of these
chimney swift towers and just one structure
can make a real big difference in the breeding success
of the birds.
- GEORGEAN: I think all three of these have nestlings in them.
- PAUL: I think so too!
- NARRATOR: These two have been working on swift towers
for quite some time.
- Ah yes, every year we learn something new.
- We figured if we could come up with something that
homeowners could build, then we could increase the habitat.
And so we tried one thing and then another,
different materials.
- NARRATOR: And this is their final design.
- GEORGEAN: The outside is a hardy plank that's smooth,
so no predators can climb it.
The vent up there allows air to circulate
through the outside of the tower keeping it even cooler.
There's babies in there.
We are so happy we were able to come up with a structure
that actually benefits the species
and that other people are
really jumping on the bandwagon to help, help the birds.
- PAUL: We need to dig a little more out of this corner.
- Square this up a little bit.
That might be ok, Andy.
- NARRATOR: Landowner and conservationist, Andy Sansom...
- PAUL: Stand her up!
- NARRATOR: ...is all in on chimney swift towers.
- GEORGEAN: We're a good team!
- We just keep building towers so we can get them out here.
- NARRATOR: This will be the third on his property.
- ANDY: With each of the projects, we have become
more and more involved in the actual construction.
- PAUL: This little wire twister cuts a lot of time out!
Crank it like that.
- ANDY: Oh!
- PAUL: There you go!
That's it, that's the idea.
- ANDY: I feel privileged that they've increasingly trusted me
enough to let me participate in the project itself.
Come on man!
[grunting] There we go!
I learned a new skill today
or at least half learned.
- PAUL: Yeah, lots more water!
[scraping]
- PAUL: I think that's gonna do it.
- ANDY: Yeah!
- NARRATOR: They're halfway home,
humans helping out their feathered friends.
It's worked before.
- PAUL: People can actually be credited with the recovery
and the return of bluebirds.
It's not unreasonable to think that if enough
chimney swift towers are built,
that the chimney swift towers themselves could be
just like the bluebird houses
or the purple martin gourds that people put up.
Just a real full court press in conservation
on behalf of this particular species.
- GEORGEAN: OK!
- PAUL: That's the hardest part of the tower's construction,
just being on top of the ladder
with that big ol' section up there.
[wood scrapes]
- GEORGEAN: Paul and I have built so many towers together,
we very seldom even speak while were constructing.
Kind of a dance.
- That's it, we're in!
Always so glad when that's over.
But now it's a piece of cake, everything's pre-cut,
ready to put up.
From this point forward it will go pretty quick.
Keep going up with the insulation on top of where
Georgean's been.
- GEORGEAN: It helps, it's to keep it cooler.
Yah, that looks good!
- PAUL: Great!
We've kinda lost track of how many of these we've done,
we've done so many it's over 100 and probably close to 200.
- ANDY: I don't know that you could identify
any individuals who have done so much for an individual species
than Paul and Georgean.
And I'm talking about across the board
in wildlife conservation.
[drill hammers]
- ANDY: So, it was really special.
- PAUL: That's it.
Done!
- ANDY: We're already beginning to think about where we are
going to put the next one.
[chimney swift calls]
- NARRATOR: Back at Chaetura Canyon...
- They're circling around and faking us out!
- NARRATOR: ...the patio party is in full swing!
- GEORGEAN: So, when we have folks come out in the evenings
to watch the swifts go into the towers, oh, it's so exciting!
- AMANDA: Oh, here we go!
- There's a mated pair.
I think they are feeding.
- PAUL: The food they eat is insects, mosquito's, gnats,
flies, all of the things we swat at and don't want
to have around, that's a delicacy to them,
that's what they survive on.
- ISAAC: Very cool!
- AMANDA: Here we go, oh!
There it is!
- GEORGEAN: It's hard to get someone interested in something
that's so ephemeral and in the sky all day,
- Oh, beautiful!
- GEORGEAN: Until they actually see them,
- BIRDER: Wow, look at that!
Wow!
- GEORGEAN: So, education is the key!
- I didn't know, I really didn't know much about
chimney swifts before tonight!
We have purple martins in our front yard,
but I wasn't really aware that chimney swifts
are very similar in that way.
So, um, see if maybe we can get a chimney out
in our backyard too!
- PAUL: This is another design!
- NARRATOR: So, for these Swift Saviors, mission accomplished.
- PAUL: We love the birds so much, we want everybody else to
care about them the way we do,
so that we can have them protected,
the more people that care about them,
the better off they are gonna be!
And the better their chances in the future.
[chimney swifts chirping]