Prey items of the Black Swift ( Cypseloides niger ) in Colorado and a review of historical data

Abstract

The Black Swift (Cypseloides niger) was first discovered in Colorado in 1880, yet information on prey items taken by this species in Colorado is very rare. We collected and identified prey items of Black Swifts from three breeding locations in Colorado during August over a seven-year period (2006–2012) and identified 5,371 insects representing 10 orders and 54 families. We compare our data with historical Black Swift prey item information from other locations in North America. These data indicate that Black Swifts forage on a wider array of insect taxa and sizes than previously reported in other parts of its range.