Waterfalls, Caves, and White-collared Swifts

A flight of White-collared Swifts, huge swifts the size of small falcons, wing their way toward a small waterfall in Southern Mexico. Flying up to 100 miles per hour, they slice right through the waterfall into the cave beyond. White-collared Swifts are found from Mexico to Brazil. By day, they fly high above ground, in search of flying insects, gliding and soaring on outstretched wings, rarely flapping. And not once do they perch until returning through the veil of water and into the cave. Here they also nest, on a ledge just beyond the waterfall, their nests enshrouded by mist.

BirdNote^®

Waterfalls, Caves and White-collared Swifts

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote.

[Small waterfall with spray]

Stand in the beauty of a small waterfall in Southern Mexico and through the spray, you might just make out the entrance to a cave.

The sun is setting. A few bats flutter above. Suddenly we hear the sound of something approaching, and approaching fast! [Screeching calls of White-collared Swifts]

It’s a flight of White-collared Swifts, huge swifts the size of small falcons, winging toward the waterfall. [Loud screeching calls of White-collared Swifts] With long, slender wings arcing backward, the White-collared Swifts are all black with a narrow white ring around the neck. Their wings whoosh as they rush by. Flying up to 100 miles per hour, they slice right through the waterfall into the cave beyond. Hundreds pass by in the span of a minute or two. Awe-inspiring!

Among the world’s largest swifts, White-collared Swifts are found from Mexico to Brazil. By day, they fly very high above ground, in search of flying insects, gliding and soaring on outstretched wings, rarely flapping.

And not once do they perch until returning through the veil of water and into the cave. [Screeching calls of White-collared Swifts]

Here they also nest, on a ledge just beyond the waterfall, their nests enshrouded by mist. [Sound of a waterfall]

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Sounds of White-collared Swift 28462 provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York recorded by A. van den Berg.
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org July 2018/2021 Narrator: Michael Stein

ID# WHCOSW-01-2012-07-03

http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/lifehistory?p_p_spp…
good source of natural history on the species