Thanks for the update. One less thing to worry about..... They are fascinating birds.
On Monday, July 1, 2019 at 6:52:40 AM UTC-4, Erik Hendrickson wrote: > > I believe this is consistant with obervations of Black Swifts at Black > Canyon from 1996-2017, as reported in "Breeding Phenology and Success of > Black Swifts in Box Canyon, Ouray, Colorado" in the Wilson Journal of > Ornithology, Vol. 119, No. 4, pgs. 678-685, 2007 by Sue E. Hirshman, > Carolyn Gunn and Richard G. Levad. Since publication of the original > article, my understanding is that Sue Hirshman continues to closely monitor > and record data on nesting swifts at Box Canyon, and Dr. Carolyn Gunn works > with the data to update statistics (and continues to publish scientific > papers about Black Swifts). The updated statistics were presented by > Carolyn Gunn at the 2019 Ute Mountain Mesa Verde Birding Festival, and > included the following: > Egg Laying - mean June 28 (range June 15 to July 22, n = 118) > Incubation Onset - mean July 1 (range June 16 to July 23, n = 131) > > At her presentation, I recall Carolyn Gunn commenting that Black Swift > eggs can remain unattended after laying for several days, and the eggs will > not addle, and will remain viable. > > As Rich Levad said - this is the coolest bird. > http://www.aba.org/thecoolestbird.pdf > > > On Wednesday, June 26, 2019 at 7:17:02 AM UTC-6, andrew melnykovych wrote: >> >> All- >> >> Visited Box Canyon Falls Park in Ouray today - once in mid-afternoon and >> again at around 7 pm. >> >> Located 4 nests - one empty and three with single eggs. All were >> unattended throughout both times I was there. That is consistent with what >> the woman at the park visitor center told me has been the case for several >> days. I would assume that the eggs are unviable as a result. >> >> Does anyone know what might have cased all these nests to be abandoned? >> My guess is that the unusually cold and wet weather in the last few weeks >> has impacted their favored prey (flying ants, according to Birds of America >> Online) and that the food shortage has caused the nest abandonment. (BofA >> has no info on nest abandonments) >> >> Would be interested in everyone's thoughts. >> >> I later saw at least two Black Swifts above the town at about 730 pm. >> They were high up, far above a large flock of Violet-green Swallows. So at >> least a few birds are around, if not necessarily nesting. >> >> >> >> >> Andrew Melnykovych >> Louisville KY >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/e2c32c24-b9ea-4af4-bfb1-0e4e16bc55e2%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
