Community Corner

This Eagle Scout Project is For the Birds… Literally

One Eagle Scout helped build a home for a different kind of bird this past weekend.

When chimney swifts come back to Woodbury in the spring, they’ll have a happy home to go to, thanks to Tyler Zinko of Middlebury’s Troop 5.

For Zinko’s Eagle Scout project, he raised $900 to go toward building a chimney swift tower that now stands on New Morning Market’s property.

“It’s a 12-foot tall bird house,” he said, while constructing the tower on Saturday, Nov. 16. “The chimney swifts go south for the winter and then come back for the spring and summer. They used to roost in chimneys and hollowed out trees but there’s less of those now, so these are a substitute.”

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Zinko sold lollipops at Dunkin’ Donuts in Middlebury and New Morning Market in Woodbury to raise the money. He ordered the materials from Bushka Lumber in Waterbury and was given a $100 discount toward the cost of supplies.

Helping him put together the tower were mom, dad and brother Michelle, Michael and Justin Zinko, respectively; Troop 5 Committee Member Adam Burns and his son, also Adam Burns.

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A bit about chimney swifts, as told by Tyler: The birds have a 12-inch wing span and don’t land unless it’s into a nest or a vertical landing surface. That’s why the chimney swift tower will be a welcome sight to these traveling birds come springtime.


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