migration of the swift

added to my "list of things to do in portland" is the annual swift migration.  every year from september 1-30th since 1982 thousands of swifts make their way to chapman elementary school's chimney in nw portland to roost for the evening.

swifts, difficult to distinguish from swallows and bats, have unique tail "hooks" that enable them to roost vertically.  later in october they will start migrating south to mexico, guatemala and western honduras.

vaux swifts are named after william sansome vaux (1811-1882) an american mineralologist and friend of john kirk townsend, a noted orinthologist of the day.  townsend first described the vaux's swift for science and named it for his friend.  the scientific name is Chaetura vauxi.

and what an event!  people ate cheese and bread while children slid down the hill on cardboard, all anticipating the vortex of birds.  at first a few flitted by and then seemed to fly in large circles, gathering and gathering until they began to fly in a coordinated whorl.  the swifts circled until one finally took the lead down into the chimney.  they poured in to the cheers of all gathered.

an especially sweet fact about this event is that in 2001 the chapman school heating system was converted from oil to natural gas with a new chimney installed for the gas furnace which preserved the old chimney especially for the swifts.  the audobon society has been instrumental in educating chapman students and staff to better understand their avian neighbors who have chosen them as the largest swift roosting site in the nation.