Distribution

Distributions of the three recognized subspecies of the Black Swift are based on body size, wing chord, and degree of white tipping on ventrum and white frosting on head (12 Ridgway, R. (1911). The birds of North and Middle America. Part V. United States National Museum Bulletin 50. Close , 53 Zimmer, J. T. (1945). A new swift from Central and South America. Auk 62(4):586–592. Close , 54 Webster, J. D. (1958a). Further ornithological notes from Zacatecas, Mexico. Wilson Bulletin 70:243-255. Close , 17 Pyle, P. (1997). Identification Guide to North American Birds. Part I. Slate Creek Press, Bolinas, CA, USA. Close ) (see Subspecies).

Breeding Range

The breeding range for Cypseloides niger borealis extends south from southeastern Alaska (2 Kennerly, C. B. R. (1858). Description of a new species of Cypselus, collected on the North Western Boundary Survey, Archibald Campbell, Esq., Commissioner. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 9:202–203. Close , 55 Armstrong, R. H. (2008). Guide to the birds of Alaska, Fifth Edition. Alaska Northwest Books, Portland, OR, USA. Close ). Summers locally from southeast Alaska north to near Juneau (56 Gabrielson, I. N., and F. C. Lincoln (1959). The Birds of Alaska. Stackpole Company, Harrisburg, PA, USA. Close ). It occurs in northwest and east central British Columbia (north to 56°N and 58°N in west and 54°N in the east), including Vancouver Island (but absent from Haida Gwaii; 57 Campbell, R. W., N. K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, J. M. Cooper, G. W. Kaiser, and M. C. E. McNall (1990). The Birds of British Columbia, Volume 2. Diurnal Birds of Prey Through Woodpeckers. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC, Canada. Close ), as well as in southwest Alberta in Banff and Jasper National Parks (58 Semenchuk, G. P. (1992). The Atlas of Breeding Birds of Alberta. Federation of Alberta Naturalists, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Close ). Occurs south through Washington (in Cascades, from Whatcom and Okanogan counties south to King and Kittitas counties and along rocky coast from Clallam County south to Grays Harbor County (59 Smith, M. R., P. W. Mattocks Jr., and K. M. Cassidy (1997). Breeding Birds of Washington State. In Washington State Gap Analysis - Final Report (K. M. Cassidy, C. E. Grue, M. R. Smith, and K. M. Dvornich, Editors). Seattle Audubon Society Publications in Zoology no. 1., Seattle, Washington, USA. Close ), in northern Idaho's panhandle area south to Shoshone County (60 Dumroese, R. K., M. R. Mousseaux, S. H. Sturts, D. A. Stephens and P. A. Holick. (2001). Idaho Black Swifts: nesting habitat and spatial analysis of records. Western Birds 32:218-227. Close ), and in northwestern Montana south to Lake County (61 Hunter, W. F. and P. H. Baldwin. (1962). Nesting of the Black Swift in Montana. Wilson Bulletin 74:409-416. Close , 62 Montana Bird Distribution Committee (1996). P. D. Skaar's Montana Bird Distribution. Fifth edition. Montana Natural Heritage Program Special Publications 3, Helena, MT, USA. Close ). Also summers locally in Oregon east of Cascades - breeding confirmed only in Lane County, but summering birds observed in Linn, Wasco, Wallowa, Hood River, Crook, and Grant counties (63 Gilligan, J. D., M. Rogers, A. Smith, and A. Contreras (1994). Birds of Oregon: Status and Distribution. Cinclus Publications, McMinnville, Oregon, USA. Close , 64 Adamus, P. R., K. Larsen, G. Gillson, and C. R. Miller (2001). Oregon Breeding Bird Atlas, CD-ROM. Oregon Field Ornithology, Eugene, OR, USA. Close ). In California, occurs in the Cascade-Sierra Nevada region from Shasta and Siskiyou Counties south to Tulare and Mono Counties, and along and near the coast from Santa Cruz County south to San Luis Obispo County; in southern California occurs in the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, and San Jacinto mountains (65 Foerster, K. S. and C. T. Collins. (1990). Breeding distribution of the Black Swift in southern California. Western Birds 21:1-9. Close , 66 Small, A. (1994). California Birds: Their Status and Distribution. Ibis Publishing Company, Vista, California, USA. Close ). In Utah, breeding confirmed in Utah County, but summering birds observed in Washington County (67 Knorr, O. A. (1962). Black Swift breeds in Utah. Condor 64:79. Close , 68 Behle, W. H., E. D. Sorenson, and C. M. White (1985). Utah Birds: A Revised Checklist. Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake City, UT, USA. Close ). In southeast Arizona, occurs in the Chiricahua Mountains (69 Knorr, O. A. and M. S. Knorr. (1989). The Black Swift in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona. Southwestern Naturalist 34:559-560. Close ). It breeds in western and central Colorado (most common in San Juan Mountains and also Sangre de Cristo, Flat Tops, Gore, and Front Ranges; 70 Knorr, O. A. (1961). The geographical and ecological distribution of the Black Swift in Colorado. Wilson Bulletin 73:155-170. Close , 71 Boyle, S. (1998a). "Black Swift Cypseloides niger." In Colorado breeding bird atlas., edited by H. E. Kingery, 236-237. Denver, CO: Colorado Bird Atlas Partnership and Colorado Div. Wildl. Close ). In north central New Mexico, it occurs in the Jemez Mountains (72 Johnson, P. W. (1990). Black Swift (Cypseloides niger) nesting in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. New Mexico Ornithological Society Bulletin 18:13-15. Close , 73 Levad, R., and C. Gunn (2004). Inventory and evaluation of New Mexico waterfalls as potential nesting sites for Black Swifts. Unpublished report submitted to New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory, Grand Junction, CO, USA. Close ). The documented breeding distribution extends to the southern Mexican states of Oaxaca (74 Rowley, J. S. (1966). Breeding records of birds of the Sierra Madre del Sur, Oaxaca, Mexico. Proceedings of the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology 1(3):107–204. Close , 75 Binford, L. C. (1989). A distributional survey of the birds of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Ornithological Monographs 43. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC, USA. Close ) and Veracruz (76 Collins, C. T. and M. J. Landy. (1968). Breeding of the Black Swift in Veracruz, Mexico. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 67:266-268. Close ), but it is possible additional breeding sites may occur in Mexico as this swift also has been observed in the states of Baja California, Durango, México, San Luis Potosí, Tlaxcala (76 Collins, C. T. and M. J. Landy. (1968). Breeding of the Black Swift in Veracruz, Mexico. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 67:266-268. Close ), and Zacatecas (54 Webster, J. D. (1958a). Further ornithological notes from Zacatecas, Mexico. Wilson Bulletin 70:243-255. Close ). Black Swift is more widespread in the interior and on adjacent Pacific Slope from southwestern Chihuahua, Hidalgo, and western Veracruz south through Oaxaca. Webster (54 Webster, J. D. (1958a). Further ornithological notes from Zacatecas, Mexico. Wilson Bulletin 70:243-255. Close ), however, indicated that all Mexican birds he observed were Cypseloides niger costaricensis, although Mexican birds are closer to Cypseloides niger borealis in the restriction of the ventral white markings and lesser extent of white frosting on the head, but closer to Cypseloides niger costaricensis in wing and tail lengths, an example of the overlap and confusion about distribution of various subspecies. Friedmann et al. (77 Friedmann, H., L. Griscom, and R. T. Moore (1950). Distributional Checklist of the Birds of Mexico. Part 1. Pacific Coast Avifauna 29. Cooper Ornithological Club, Berkeley, CA, USA. Close ) included Puebla and Nayarit, Mexico, as breeding sites. The distribution maps in Van Perlo (78 van Perlo, B. (2006). A Field Guide to the Birds of México and Central America. HarperCollins, London. Close ) show Black Swift as a frequent to uncommon transient in Baja and Sonora, and a frequently to uncommonly observed summer bird along the entire western third of the country south of Sonora.

Cypseloides niger costaricensis is thought to breed locally in Cordillera Central and Cordillera de Talamanca; it is unrecorded on the Caribbean slope (79 Stiles, F. G., and A. F. Skutch (1989). A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ). Breeding confirmed in upper section of Río Tiribí in May (80 Marín, A. M., and J. E. Sánchez. (1998). Breeding of the Black Swift (Cypseloides niger) in Costa Rica. Ornithologia Neotropical 9:219-221. Close ). Occurs in the highlands of Central America from the Sierra Madre of Chiapas to Honduras and Costa Rica (77 Friedmann, H., L. Griscom, and R. T. Moore (1950). Distributional Checklist of the Birds of Mexico. Part 1. Pacific Coast Avifauna 29. Cooper Ornithological Club, Berkeley, CA, USA. Close ). Ridgway (12 Ridgway, R. (1911). The birds of North and Middle America. Part V. United States National Museum Bulletin 50. Close ) described this subspecies from nine skins collected from the highlands of Costa Rica. Specimens of Black Swift from Costa Rica were examined as part of a comparison of five species of swifts in that country (15 Marín, A. M. and F. G. Stiles. (1992). On the biology of five species of swifts (Apodidae: Cypseloidinae) in Costa Rica. Proceedings of the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology 4:287-351. Close ). In that study, they cited specimens collected from 4 May to 28 June in 1971 and 1972 at Helechales; two females collected on 1 June each had a single ruptured follicle, one female had a mature follicle, and seven males collected in May and June had enlarged testes (81 Kiff, L. F. (1975). Notes on southwestern Costa Rican birds. Condor 77:101-103. Close ). Marín and Sánchez (80 Marín, A. M., and J. E. Sánchez. (1998). Breeding of the Black Swift (Cypseloides niger) in Costa Rica. Ornithologia Neotropical 9:219-221. Close : 335) stated that the species was "presumed" to be migratory, and that it "presumably winters in South America" (82 Lowther, P. E., and C. T. Collins (2002). Black Swift (Cypseloides niger). In The Birds of North America, No. 676 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Editors). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA, USA Close : 3). However, there are no definitive studies that have determined if the species is resident or migratory.

Cypseloides niger niger is present in summer (March−September) and presumed to be a common breeding resident in Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Martinique; uncommon in Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent; rare on Montserrat, Barbados, and Grenada (83 Raffaele, H. A., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele (2003). Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ). Also migrates infrequently in Virgin Islands and Lesser Antilles. Also breeds on Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola; vagrant or transient on St. Croix, Grenada, Barbados, and Trinidad (84 ffrench, R. (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago. Revised edition. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. Close , 85 Bond, J. (1993). A Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, MA, USA. Close , 86 American Ornithologists' Union (1998). Check-list of North American Birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC, USA. Close , 87 Raffaele, H. A., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele (1998). A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close , 83 Raffaele, H. A., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele (2003). Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close , 88 Espin, M. E., and L. G. Rivera (2010). First breeding record of Black Swift Cypseloides niger in Cuba. Cotinga 32:146–147. Close , 89 Villard, P., and A. Ferchal (2013). The Black Swift (Cypseolides niger) nesting in Guadeloupe. Journal of Caribbean Ornithology 26:44–47. Close ). Reports of nests include Dominica, but it is not believed to winter there (90 Bond, J. (1941). Nidification of the birds of Dominica, BWI. Auk 58: 364–375. Close ). The sole basis for the widely repeated statement that Cypseloides niger niger winters in Guyana (91 Snyder, D. E. (1966). The Birds of Guyana (formerly British Guiana): A Check List of 720 Species. Peabody Museum of Salem, Salem, MA, USA. Close , 84 ffrench, R. (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago. Revised edition. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. Close , 85 Bond, J. (1993). A Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, MA, USA. Close , 86 American Ornithologists' Union (1998). Check-list of North American Birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC, USA. Close ) is based on one specimen (collected 13 June 1881, in the Merume Mountains by Whitely and housed at the British Museum of Natural History) and uncorroborated sight records. A review of the specimen by the collections staff at the British Museum of Natural History at Tring verified the specimen as “no question that the specimen matches West Indian birds” in their collection (M. Braun, personal communication). Black Swift is still included as a Nearctic migrant in a checklist of the birds of Guyana (92 Braun, M. J., D. W. Finch, M. B. Robbins, and B. K. Schmidt (2007). A Field Checklist of the Birds of Guyana. 2nd Edition. Publication 121. Biological Diversity of the Guianas Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA. Close ). At Awala-Yalimapo, French Guiana, several flocks of Black Swifts were observed in flight in August, 2010, the first records for this species in that country (93 Claessens, O., and Comité d’Homologation de Guyane (2015). Rare birds in French Guiana in 2008–10. Cotinga 37:66–78. Close ). Gemlin also refers to a report of a Black Swift from Cayenne, French Guiana, but a translation of that description is of an all-dark swallow which nests in foot-long holes in the ground and perches in trees (94 Bajon, B. (1778). Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de Cayenne, et de la Guiane françoise, Tome second. Chez Grangé, Paris, France. Close ), and is obviously not a Black Swift.

Known Breeding Sites. Known breeding locations listed in Appendix 1.

Winter Range

Evidence for a South American winter distribution of Cypseloides niger borealis includes documented observations on 26 September 1992, in Cañon de Julumito, a steep gorge on the Rio Cauca, about 6 km southwest of Popayán, Colombia. About 15 Cypseloides niger borealis were found foraging and roosting with a flock of ~150 White-collared Swift (Streptoprocne zonaris) (95 Stiles, F. G. and A. J. Negret. (1994). The nonbreeding distribution of the Black Swift: a clue from Colombia and unsolved problems. Condor 96:1091-1094. Close ). Three Colorado Cypseloides niger borealis breeders outfitted with geolocators were tracked to wintering areas in western Brazil and portions of Peru and Bolivia; the fall migration path could not be traced, but the spring migration path was from western Brazil, over Colombia, to southern Mexico, then veering out over the Pacific Ocean to eastern and central Mexico, then over New Mexico and Texas to Colorado (43 Beason, J. P., C. Gunn, K. M. Potter, R. A. Sparks, and J. W. Fox (2012). The Northern Black Swift: migration path and wintering area revealed. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 124(1):1–8. Close ). Use of wing activity devices/accelerometers on six Black Swift from Colorado revealed 24-hour sustained flight (“aerial roosting”) from arrival on the wintering grounds until spring migration (96 Sparks, R. A. (2020). Black Swift movement ecology. Lois Webster Fund Presentation, Denver Field Ornithologists, Denver, CO, USA. Close ).

The wintering range of Cypseloides niger costaricensis is presumed to be in portions of northern and western South America but actual distribution unknown (82 Lowther, P. E., and C. T. Collins (2002). Black Swift (Cypseloides niger). In The Birds of North America, No. 676 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Editors). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA, USA Close ). Friedmann et al. (77 Friedmann, H., L. Griscom, and R. T. Moore (1950). Distributional Checklist of the Birds of Mexico. Part 1. Pacific Coast Avifauna 29. Cooper Ornithological Club, Berkeley, CA, USA. Close ) indicated this subspecies is found in the highlands of Central America from the Sierra Madre of Chiapas to Honduras and Costa Rica but makes no reference whether the birds were breeding or migratory.

Cypseloides niger niger may overwinter in Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola (87 Raffaele, H. A., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele (1998). A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ).

Extralimital Records

Casual in south-coastal Alaska (Wooded Island; 86 American Ornithologists' Union (1998). Check-list of North American Birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC, USA. Close ), Saskatchewan (97 Gollop, J. B. (1982). Some June-July bird records for the Prairie Provinces. Blue Jay 40:193-196. Close ), and Ontario (98 Mackenzie, S. (2008). Black Swift: First record for Ontario. Ontario Birds 26:199–202. Close , 99 Richards, I. M. (2008). Ontario Bird Records Committee Report for 2007. Ontario Birds 26:82–106. Close , 100 Cranford, M. H. (2010). Ontario Bird Records Committee Report for 2009. Ontario Birds 28:58–86. Close ). Difficulty of identification in some regions makes sight records from the Florida Keys (86 American Ornithologists' Union (1998). Check-list of North American Birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC, USA. Close ) questionable. Sight records from Texas (Randall, Brewster, Harris, and Chambers counties) likely reflect migrating swifts (14 Oberholser, H. C. (1974). The Bird Life of Texas. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas, USA. Close ). With the advent of eBird, sight records have become much more numerous and widespread. In the West Indies, eBird records reflect sightings in Curacao, Grenada, Barbados, St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Nevis, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and Cuba. There was also a single April record from Dauphin Island, Alabama. eBird records also document sightings in Colombia , Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, and Mexico (101 eBird Basic Dataset. Version: EBD_relAug-2020. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Aug 2020. Close ).

Few long-term monitoring studies of sites have occurred due to difficult access to most nesting colonies. In Colorado, 24 of 25 sites found in the late 1940s and early 1950s have been revisited and the colonies appear to be stable (102 Levad, R. (2007). The Coolest Bird: A natural history of the Black Swift and those who have pursued it. American Birding Association, Delaware City, DE, USA. Close ). However, in California, coastal breeding sites have recently declined significantly (103 Roberson, D., and C. T. Collins (2008). Black Swift (Cypseloides niger). In California bird species of special concern: A ranked assessment of species, subspecies, and distinct populations of birds of immediate conservation concern in California, Studies of Western Birds Number 1 (W. D. Shuford and T. Gardali, Editors), Western Field Ornithologists, Camarillo, CA, and California Department of Fish and Game, Sacramento, CA, USA. pp. 245–249. Close ) but no cause has been identified. Black Swifts confirmed to be breeding at a site in southeastern Arizona in 1988 can no longer be found (69 Knorr, O. A. and M. S. Knorr. (1989). The Black Swift in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona. Southwestern Naturalist 34:559-560. Close ).