As I stumble out of my tent at 4 a.m. my eyes squint to a blanket of stars in the dark sky above me. My red headlamp light illuminates my tent as I gather my gear, and get ready for my ascent to Columbine falls in Rocky Mountain National Park, a mere 2.6 miles and 1,475 ft gain in elevation to the falls along the Longs Peak trail. This trail is popular among hikers that attempt to summit Longs Peak. As eager hikers trail behind, excited for their ascent, their headlamps form a line of bright lights as they wind up the rocky trail.
Columbine Falls.
I branch off and head southwest on Chasm Lake trail and reach the scenic falls along a narrow path in alpine tundra habitat. As I get ready to count Black Swifts, I use a compass to take bearings and use a device to measure light levels and record temperature, wind speed, and cloud conditions. As the count starts I focus my gaze on the potential nesting sites and alternate scanning with my binoculars and looking up to try and detect the fabled Black Swift, a bird that nests in the most unlikely of settings, waterfalls shrouded in water and mist, their silhouettes dimly lit by the rising sun fly by at lightning fast speeds. The silhouettes seem to appear out of nowhere like ghosts streaking across the skies above me. Swifts are best seen during crepuscular hours departing their nests before sunrise and returning at dusk.
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- A Black Swift nesting behind a waterfall.
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- Photos by: Wyatt Armstrong.
This is a typical morning for a Black Swift field biologist conducting a standardized survey at waterfalls and wet rock faces scattered throughout the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Luckily for me it’s a dry and warm morning, perfect for observing this elusive and cryptic species. These birds’ nest in dark and moist ledges near waterfalls throughout the mountains in the states of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, California, Oregon, Washington and up into Canada. In these most unlikely nesting habitats they have adapted and rely on an abundance of insects to feed their fledglings and moist moss for their nests. It’s a joy for me to witness this marvelous avian species in their natural setting. As I pack up my gear to head down the mountain and head on to my next waterfall I wonder whether I will see more colonies of this incredible bird and think about how many swifts are ready to be counted.
The trail to Chasm Lake.
Black Swifts have undergone dramatic population declines, especially coastal populations, but lack baseline population estimates needed to inform conservation plans. This spurred the development of a series of standardized protocols needed for successful conservation planning. Bird Conservancy of the Rockies along with the Canadian Wildlife Service and Montana Audubon collaborated to develop a series of protocols; site assessment, nest searching and a count protocols to estimate population size.
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- Data Sheet used to record information.
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- Hiking on the beautiful Longs Peak Trail.
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies in collaboration with Colorado Parks and Wildlife tested these protocols and developed a state-wide probabilistic design with the goals of estimating abundance and detection probability. These estimates will inform managers on where and how many Black Swifts are breeding in the state and how habitat features influence swift numbers. With two successful field seasons completed the program now hopes to start understanding this species population dynamics. Together with our partners we forage a path forward towards a better understanding of this species population ecology. We are hopeful that this species can persist amid climate change and global insect declines.
This blog was written by our seasonal field technician, William Pulley and our Senior Spatial Ecologist and Black Swift Coordinator, Rob Sparks.
