A Swift Sighting

Pileated woodpecker photo by Aida Villaronga

The Pacific Northwest has been the only place in the continental United States not baking in an oven.  We've been "enjoying" cool temperatures and quite a bit of rain until today...the 4th of July.  I wonder what the birds think of all the fireworks that go off during the day and especially at night.  Most are probably perched in the relative safety of a tree hoping it doesn't get blown to smithereens from a stray firework.  Only if birds had cognitive, human thoughts...I guess. 

Today the weather is turning around.  Dubbed the first day of summer in Seattle, the 4th of July has been comfortably warm with a slight breeze.  After getting home from work (yes I unfortunately had to work today) I decided to soak up some rays (not too upset I missed the sun bath because the rest of the week is supposed to hit the mid-80s).  I've seen a number of strange birds from my backyard, or maybe not strange but birds I wouldn't expect to see in the suburbs, from pileated woodpeckers to varied thrushes and even western tanagers.

Varied thrush, photo by Kelly Wohlwend

Western tanager  photo by Stephen Parsons

Barn swallow, Photo by JMK Birder

But the one I saw flying over my house today was one of the most exciting...black swifts.  A very uncommon bird (not even described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2011), I had to do a double-take as I saw it erratically flying in the clear, blue sky today.  At first I knew it wasn't a swallow because of it's size.  Swallows have an average wing span of 12 inches and I could tell even from my land-locked place on Earth that this bird was bigger and much darker.  Black swifts are also recognizable by their tail, which is larger and more pronounced when they fly, unlike most swallows.  A majority of swallow species have a forked tail (watch out, not all of them, check the cliff swallow!), which is very distinguishable. 

Black swift, photo from the Slater Museum of Natural History

As I sat on my deck, soaking up the evening rays I watched these amazing birds dance in the sky, intertwined with the smaller, white (on the belly) tree swallows.  I could easy separate the tree swallows from the swifts by their bright, white underside and smaller, pointed tail.  Trying to get the swifts in my binoculars was the biggest challenge...but once I had one on my radar I was able to confirm my sighting.  Just another bird to check off my life list...













References:

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2011, www.allaboutbirds.org

Sibley, Allen D.  2003.  The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf.  471 pp.