Vaux's Swift
Chaetura vauxi
Very small swift with stiff, quick wingbeats. Grayish overall with paler throat and brownish rump. Relatively short-winged and short-tailed compared with other similar swifts. Often in small flocks. Listen for its high-pitched chips and trills. Feeds on aerial insects over a variety of habitats, including forests, fields, towns, and bodies of water. Multiple populations are surely distinct species. Migratory population breeds extensively in the western U.S. and Canada, wintering to Central America. Resident “Richmond’s Swift” occurs through much of Mexico and Central America, and is darker overall than migratory Vaux’s with a more contrasting pale throat and browner rump. There are also resident populations on the Yucatan peninsula and in western Venezuela, for which identification criteria are not well-defined. Range overlaps with several other similar swifts in Mexico and Central America. Vaux’s is smaller with quicker wingbeats than Chimney Swift or Gray-rumped Swift, with higher-pitched calls.
Identification
This is a small swift, even compared to other Chaetura species, at 10.7 to 11.2 cm (4.2 to 4.4 in) long and weighing 18 g (0.63 oz). The northern populations are slightly larger at 11.5 cm (4.5 in), probably according to the Bergmann's Rule and/or migration requirements. It has a cigar-shaped body, crescentic wings and a short bluntly squared-off tail. The head, upperparts and wings are dusky black, and the underparts, rump and tail coverts are greyish brown. The throat is paler grey, becoming whitish in northern birds. The sexes are similar, but juveniles have dusky bases to the throat feathers.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Chaetura vauxi
- Authority
- (Townsend, JK, 1839)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Apodidae
- Genus
- Chaetura
Range and habitat
Vaux's swift breeds in highlands from southern Alaska to central California and from southern Mexico, the northern Yucatán Peninsula, to eastern Panama and northern Venezuela. The United States' populations are migratory, wintering from central Mexico south through the Central American breeding range. The resident breeding birds in the southern part of the range are sometimes considered a separate species, dusky-backed swift, Chaetura richmondi.Preferred habitats include old growth coniferous or deciduous forests consisting of coniferous and deciduous vegetation; requires large, hollow trees for nesting.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
This is a gregarious species, with flocks of 30 or more birds, and often with other swift species, such as white-collared, especially at weather fronts. It flies with a mixture of stiff wing-beats and unsteady glides. It has more varied calls than others in the genus, with a mixture of chattering, buzzes, squeaks and chips.<p>The swift feeds in flight on flying insects, including beetles, wasps, termites and flying ants. It forages over forests and more open areas, including towns.<p>Vaux's swift breeds in the mountains and foothills, from southeastern Alaska and Montana to central California, mainly above 700 m (2,300 ft). It builds a cup nest of twigs and saliva on a vertical surface in a dark cavity, such as a tree hole, cliff crevice or attic. It lays three white eggs between March and July. It spends winters in the tropics.<p>Vaux's swift builds saucer-shaped nests of twigs or spruce and pine needles stuck to an inside surface of a hollow tree or chimney, between 20 inches and 6 feet from the bottom of the cavity.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Bird Calls
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