Black Swift, Cypseloides niger

Although migrating Black Swifts were seen and collected in Cauca Department of Colombia in the early 1990s (Stiles and Negret 1994), it was not until 2012 that geolocators placed on four birds confirmed that Black Swifts (at least those that breed in Colorado) spend the winter in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil (Beason et al. [...] Lying in the rain shadow of the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada, the Great Basin Bird Conservation Region (BCR 9) is a dry region dominated by grasslands, sagebrush and other xeric shrubs in the lowlands. [...] Nevertheless, 86% of the land cover in the 50% kernel densities for the birds was composed of closed to open broad-leaved evergreen or semi-deciduous forest, with only 2- 10% of the kernel density areas being regularly flooded and in closed to open broad-leaved forest. [...] In the western United States, snow packs could be reduced by up to 80%; earlier spring thaws could increase the elevation of the snowline by 400 m and the length of the snow season could be reduced by 30 days compared to the historical average (Gunn et al. [...] For example, ants, the flying phases of which are thought to be important in the diet of Black Swifts (see Interspecific Interactions below), are strongly dependent on the size of woody structures (trees, logs and stumps; Ministry of Environment 2012).