By David L. Suddjian

Black Swifts have become extremely scarce in Santa Cruz County in recent years with little evidence of continued nesting. On the other hand, no focused efforts were made to search for nesting evidence for this rather rare and somewhat elusive species. A substantial effort was mounted this year to help resolve its current status, searching for Black Swifts and nesting evidence throughout areas of the county where they had been known to nest.

Santa Cruz County has a special connection with this species, as the first nests and eggs known to science were found on our coastline beginning in 1901. Reports of nesting at Berry Creek Falls in 1928 were among the very first of nesting at an inland site. Subsequently, Black Swifts had been confirmed to nest at many locations on the coastal bluffs from the Lighthouse Field State Beach up to the vicinity of Pelican Rock, and inland at Berry Creek Falls and Laguna Falls. The only population estimate ever attempted was of 17-20 pairs in 1988. Yet, a paucity of swifts became evident by the late 1990s and there were only a few sporadic sightings reported in 2000 and 2001. Nest sites where the species had been reliably found seemed to have fallen out of use. Even though no formal survey had been made, their absence at former haunts was troubling because the Black Swift is known to return year after year to its breeding sites, even re-using the same nest.

Surveys this year were begun in late May and are still on-going. Yet, as I write this in late July, I think the verdict is already in. Nineteen observers have reported on their attempts to find Black Swifts. Through July 29 I had received reports of 133 survey efforts totaling 197 hours of observation. All of this species’ known areas of occurrence in the county were visited repeatedly, and specific known nest sites were all checked for activity. We did not come up with much. A series of eight coastal sightings of one to three swifts from May 21 to June 10 (mostly from West Cliff to Wilder Creek) raised hopes, but it now seems that those likely pertained to migrants, or perhaps birds prospecting locally but moving elsewhere. Subsequently, the only reports were of a single swift seen at Natural Bridges on June 21 and two at Younger Lagoon on July 4. The only report of apparent courtship was from Younger on July 4, but subsequent surveys came up with no swifts. None were seen at the county’s two inland sites. No doubt related, reports indicate nesting seemed to have also ceased in 2001 and 2002 at Año Nuevo State Reserve, San Mateo County, a traditional breeding station.

And so we seem to be swiftless. I see no obvious reason for the species’ apparent extirpation in our area. All the breeding sites seem largely unchanged, and I am not aware of other evidence of population declines from other parts of the species’ range in California. It is a mystery.