Bird
Chimney Swift
Chaetura pelagica
A summer resident that nests in Louisiana. Found in all 64 parishes, across 17 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 64 parishes
- Habitats
- 17

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 64 parishes
- Habitats
- 17
- Habitat models
- Summer
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Louisiana 17
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.
Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.
Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Other habitats in its models (207)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Louisiana. Those recorded in Louisiana first, the rest by region.
In Louisiana 5
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Summer, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
Elsewhere in the South (104)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest Summer.
- Central and Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer.
- Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Summer.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Cumberland Riverscour Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dry Chalk Bluff Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer.
- Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Summer.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Florida Dry Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- South Florida Bayhead Swamp Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Mangrove Swamp Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Pine Rockland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Shell Hash Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain Summer.
- South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Summer.
- South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian Summer.
- Southeast Florida Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Summer.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest Summer.
- Southern Appalachian Granitic Dome Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Appalachian Montane Cliff Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Appalachian Rocky Summit Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer.
- Southern Crowley's Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer.
- Southern Interior Acid Cliff Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Interior Calcareous Cliff Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Cliff Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Granite Flatrock Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Summer.
- Southwest Florida Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Tamaulipan Calcareous Thornscrub Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Tamaulipan Mixed Deciduous Thornscrub Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Texas Coastal Bend Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Summer, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Western Great Plains Mesquite Woodland and Shrubland Summer, beside its main habitat.
Northeast (13)
- Acadian Low-Elevation Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Sandy Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer.
- Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Summer.
- Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Appalachian Acidic Cliff and Talus Summer, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Appalachian Circumneutral Cliff and Talus Summer, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Summer.
Midwest (12)
- Central Interior Acidic Cliff and Talus Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Interior Calcareous Cliff and Talus Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Mixedgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Tallgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer.
- North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer.
- North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Summer, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Oak Barrens Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Summer, beside its main habitat.
West (1)
- Southern Colorado Plateau Sand Shrubland Summer, beside its main habitat.
Land cover and other classes (72)
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Summer.
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer.
- Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems Summer.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems Summer.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems Summer.
- Developed, High Intensity Summer.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer.
- Developed, Medium Intensity Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Treed Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Quarries, Mines, Gravel Pits and Oil Wells Summer.
- Recently Burned Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric Summer.
- Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Herbaceous Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Shrub Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Tamaulipan Mesquite Upland Scrub Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
Seasons in Louisiana
- Summer: nests here, in all 64 parishes.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Louisiana, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Chimney Swift uses many habitats in Louisiana; these are its 3 most characteristic.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 125
- Black-chinned HummingbirdArchilochus alexandri
- VeeryCatharus fuscescens
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Bell's VireoVireo bellii
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
Plants 267
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- PondberryLindera melissifolia
- Blunt Broom SedgeCarex tribuloides
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Common Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum
- Heartleaf NettleUrtica chamaedryoides
- Clustered FescueFestuca paradoxa
- American BladdernutStaphylea trifolia
Swamps
Birds 136
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
- Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia
- Eurasian WigeonAnas penelope
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- Rose-breasted GrosbeakPheucticus ludovicianus
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpres
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- DunlinCalidris alpina
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
Plants 237
- Black Highbush BlueberryVaccinium fuscatum
- Dahoon HollyIlex cassine
- May HawthornCrataegus aestivalis
- Dense-flower SmartweedPersicaria densiflora
- Carolina AshFraxinus caroliniana
- Water HickoryCarya aquatica
- Swamp TupeloNyssa biflora
- Bent SedgeCarex styloflexa
- Cypress-swamp SedgeCarex joorii
- Dark-green SedgeCarex venusta
- Fringed SedgeCarex crinita
- Ravenfoot SedgeCarex crus-corvi
Hardwood and oak flatwoods
Birds 109
- Red-cockaded WoodpeckerPicoides borealis
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Bachman's SparrowAimophila aestivalis
- Lark SparrowChondestes grammacus
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- Scarlet TanagerPiranga olivacea
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- Hooded WarblerWilsonia citrina
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
Plants 11
- Barrens MilkweedAsclepias hirtella
- Barbed Rattlesnake RootPrenanthes barbata
- Rafinesque's SeedboxLudwigia hirtella
- Longs SedgeCarex longii
- Bushs MuhlyMuhlenbergia bushii
- Nutmeg HickoryCarya myristiciformis
- Wolf's SpikerushEleocharis wolfii
- Dwarf PalmettoSabal minor
- PecanCarya illinoinensis
- Lanceleaf GreenbrierSmilax smallii
- Cat GreenbrierSmilax glauca
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP summer habitat model for Chimney Swift
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)























































