Vaux's Swift
Chaetura vauxi
- Notice
- Fast, curved-wing flight
- When
- Late April–September
- Habitat
- Open sky and tall roosts
- Best cue
- Look up near dusk
Vaux's Swifts look like small dark cigars in flight, with crescent-shaped wings and rapid, bat-like movements. They spend most of their active time airborne, catching tiny insects.
They migrate into the Pacific Northwest in spring, remain through summer, and gather again during fall migration. Evening groups are most noticeable when migrating birds converge on an active roost.