"The Vaux's Swift is a tiny bird – some people call it “a cigar with wings.” But every fall these little birds make a big trip, from summer breeding grounds in the Pacific Northwest down to their winter home in Central and South America. Along the way, many of them roost as a big flock in chimneys up and down the west coast. And their murmurations in the air – and simultaneously dive together into chimneys – are so spectacular that they draw crowds.
There have been watch parties in Los Angeles, and Eugene – and in Portland the past couple weeks, crowds turned out night after night to see these little birds go to bed. It’s part of an annual tradition known locally as “Swift Watch.”
Vaux’s swifts are about the size of a sparrow, but their closest relatives are actually hummingbirds.
“They're so aerodynamic, and they have these swept-back wings — kind of like these fancy military jets,” says Joe Liebezeit., the assistant conservation director at Bird Alliance of Oregon.
These sleek birds do everything on the wing — eating, drinking, even mating. And, says Liebezeit, they’ve adapted to staying in the air. They’re not known to walk, hop or perch on a branch. “They’re a different kind of bird than a perching bird,” explains Liebezeit. “They don’t have the same muscle structure to do what a songbird does, to securely land on the branch and grab onto it.”"
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