On Wed, 22 Mar 1995, Eugene Hunn wrote:
> re Black Swift distributions: They do seem very scarce in Oregon, so
> perhaps they are not common in the southern Cascades, as Andy suggests,
> which are more akin to those of Oregon than either is to the N Cascades.

This southern/northern Cascades business is supported by BBA data, which
has no locations south of Goat Rocks Wilderness. they seem to be common
in higher forests west of the Okanogan River and north of Mt. Rainier.

Regarding Oregon, Gilligan et al. (1994) say (the following is quoted):

The Black Swift is known to breed in Oregon only at Salt Creek Falls,
Lane Co., at 4100 ft. in the Cascade Mts. It is a regular summer
resident in forested mountains to the north and south of Oregon, and its
apparent absence in the seemingly ideal habitat of the Oregon Cascades
and Blue Mts. remains an enigma. There are summer records which suggest
it may breed at other spots in the Cascades such as Santiam Pass, Linn
Co., and Mosier, Wasco Co.; as well as the Summit Ridge area in the
Wallowa Mts., Wallowa Co. <<end quote>>

This I find fascinating. Are mountains in northern California of greater
relief than those in Oregon? Why the apparent blank space in BLSW
breeding distribution here (and north to Mt. Rainier)?

> On Wed, 22 Mar 1995, Dennis Paulson wrote:
> > Once I saw large numbers of Black Swifts on Mt. Constitution on Orcas
> > Island; I don't recall anyone mentioning this locality yet. Like Gene,

Only one BBA record from all of the San Juans, from the block containing
the ferry terminal on Orcas I. This is an 'observed' record - no
evidence of breeding.

There are a handful of 'possible' records in the northern Olympics and
coastally at Cape Flattery.

An interesting 'probable' record (needs to be a mated pair, or seen
building a nest, copulating, or being territorial, etc.) comes from the
junction of the Methow and Columbia Rivers. This is rather far from what
seems like 'suitable' habitat for BLSW. There are several 'observed'
records nearby (which is expected).

If you have a web browser and want to look at this map, open my URL
below, and go to the Washington BBA page (which is linked on my page). I
added BLSW just now, and will remove it after a week (I don't like the model
yet, but the BBA locations are all there) when it gets updated.

____________________________
Mike Smith
Univ. of Washington, Seattle
whimbrel at u.washington.edu
http://salmo.cqs.washington.edu/~wagap/mike.html