Bird
Chimney Swift
Chaetura pelagica
A summer resident that nests in Virginia. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 27 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 27

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 27
- Habitat models
- Summer
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 27
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.






Streams, rivers and their banks


Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
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.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits



Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone




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.
Depression ponds and limesinks
Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.
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.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
Granite and other acidic rock outcrops
Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.
Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.
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 (185)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer.
- Developed, Medium Intensity Summer.
- Developed, High Intensity Summer.
- Quarries, Mines, Gravel Pits and Oil Wells Summer.
- Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Upper Texas Coast Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Louisiana Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southeast Florida Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Shell Hash Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southwest Florida Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Texas Coastal Bend Beach Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Interior Calcareous Cliff and Talus Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Interior Acidic Cliff and Talus Summer, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Appalachian Circumneutral Cliff and Talus Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Interior Acid Cliff Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dry Chalk Bluff Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Appalachian Rocky Summit Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Appalachian Granitic Dome Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Summer.
- North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer.
- North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer.
- South Florida Pine Rockland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer.
- Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Summer.
- Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Summer.
- Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Crowley's Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Acadian Low-Elevation Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly 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.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly 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.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Tamaulipan Mixed Deciduous Thornscrub Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Tamaulipan Mesquite Upland Scrub Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Tamaulipan Calcareous Thornscrub Summer, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Summer, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Oak Barrens Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer.
- Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Summer, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Colorado Plateau Sand Shrubland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Western Great Plains Mesquite Woodland and Shrubland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Mixedgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Tallgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Florida Dry Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Recently Burned Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Treed Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Mangrove Swamp Summer, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer.
- South Florida Bayhead Swamp Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer.
- South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole 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.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
- Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer.
- Cumberland Riverscour Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer.
- Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
Seasons in Virginia
- Summer: nests here, in all 133 counties and cities.
Also found in this habitat
Plants 1261
Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food.
- Eastern ColumbineAquilegia canadensis
- Great Indian-plantainArnoglossum reniforme
- Walking FernAsplenium rhizophyllum
- Summer SedgeCarex aestivalis
- Common Blue CohoshCaulophyllum thalictroides
- Intermediate Wood-fernDryopteris intermedia
- American Strawberry-bushEuonymus americanus
- Licorice BedstrawGalium circaezans
- Wild GeraniumGeranium maculatum
- Mountain HeartleafHexastylis contracta
- Smooth HydrangeaHydrangea arborescens
- ButternutJuglans cinerea
- Partridge-berryMitchella repens
- Sweet PinesapMonotropsis odorata
- Dotted SmartweedPersicaria punctata
- Smooth Solomon's-sealPolygonatum biflorum
- Chinquapin OakQuercus muehlenbergii
- Swamp RoseRosa palustris
- Black WillowSalix nigra
- BloodrootSanguinaria canadensis
- SassafrasSassafras albidum
- Lizard's-tailSaururus cernuus
- Common SweetleafSymplocos tinctoria
- Bald CypressTaxodium distichum
Wildlife 262
Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Virginia. Not sighting records.
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Sharp-shinned HawkAccipiter striatus
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperii
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Yellow-breasted ChatIcteria virens
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
- European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichas
- Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus
- Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
- Yellow-rumped WarblerDendroica coronata
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Common GrackleQuiscalus quiscula
- Northern FlickerColaptes auratus
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.
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)












































