Chestnut-collared Swift

How to find it

Watch the sky and the weather together. Low, identifiable swifts depend on cloud cover, and approaching storms are also good. On a cloudy late afternoon, several flew low over houses with Vaux's and White-collared Swifts.

In the Central Valley, look over towns and houses. One birder there reports a few swifts over the neighbourhood pretty much every morning, and more once cloudy weather arrived after the rains began. Check every flock carefully, since the collar needs a close look.

How to recognise it

This is a small swift, about 12 to 14 cm long, with broad wings and a slightly notched tail. The plumage is dark blackish brown overall.

The name comes from the male: he has a broad rufous collar across the lower throat and upper breast. In the field it is usually hard to see, so do not count on it alone.

Females and young birds have an incomplete collar or none at all.

Size helps a little, because it is smaller than the White-collared Swift and is sometimes mixed in with flocks of that species. A Central Valley birder once watched swifts fly low over houses, close enough to see the brown throats.

Behaviour and diet

It feeds in flight on flying insects such as ants, termites, beetles, bugs and wasps. It is a year-round resident, with some local seasonal movements.

In the Central Valley it forages low over towns and houses, alongside Blue-and-white Swallows. One birder watching a neighbourhood thought the swifts seemed to be courting or squabbling over airspace. Elsewhere it has been recorded flying high and fast, near the Fortuna waterfall area. It often travels in mixed swift flocks.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica this is mainly a bird of the mountains. It breeds mostly between about 1550 and 2450 m, and its elevation range tops out around 2,500 m.

Firm breeding records come from the Pacific slope of the Central Volcanic range (upper Tiribí river above Tres Ríos) and from Helechales in the Talamanca range. When feeding it is probably more widespread, regularly dropping to about 300 m and sometimes reaching sea level, for example in Carara National Park.

It has not yet been recorded on the Caribbean slope, but is likely to occur there, at least in the mountains.

When to see it

A Costa Rica birding writer says the wet season is the best time to see this swift at reasonable range. In the sunny dry season, swifts often fly too high for good looks.

Similar birds

The White-collared Swift is the largest and most common swift in Costa Rica, shows a white collar in flight, and is sometimes seen very high in flocks of hundreds. The Chestnut-collared is smaller, and the male has a chestnut collar. Black, Spot-fronted and White-chinned Swifts are also hard to separate and often fly in the same mixed flocks. Range-wide, the Black Swift can look almost the same, but the two are easy to separate by sound.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

A Costa Rican bird list gives the local names Golondrina and Vencejo Cuellicastaño for this swift. Golondrina is the common word for a swallow.

Status and conservation

Listed as a resident (R) on the AOCR list, locally common in the mountains, and rated Least Concern by the IUCN.

Photography tips

Low, identifiable swifts depend on cloud cover, so a cloudy late afternoon or an approaching storm gives the best chance of close views. Dry sunny days usually keep them too high.