Watching Vaux's Swifts at Chapman School in Portland

Like a scene straight out of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, thousands of tiny Vaux swifts circled the chimney at Chapman School (1445 NW 26th Ave.) before finally descending in a rapid and well choreographed funnel of flight as onlookers cheered and applauded. 

Unlike the classic 1963 film, these birds aren't here to attack unsuspecting people and wreak havoc on Portland. In fact these birds visit Portland every summer as they prepare to migrate to warmer climates for the winter, predominately Mexico and South America. They spend the summer in Portland dining on small insects during the day and, since 1994, have spent their nights roosting in the brick chimney at Chapman School. Large enough to lodge around 20,000 to 40,000 swifts the Chapman chimney is one of the largest known roosting sites for these migrating birds.

The swifts begin their roosting dance around dusk. Starting with just a couple of birds swirling the chimney, then gradually more and more swifts join in and soon the sky is filled with tiny winged cigars whirling overhead. This last for about two hours before the swifts make their final descent into the chimney. Watching this performance has become a very popular event; on any given evening in September you are likely to find hundreds of spectators perched on the banks overlooking the school.

Portland's Swift watch is quite the social gathering; many people bring lawn chairs, blankets, food and music to enjoy the evenings bird watch. A popular activity among the kids is sliding down the grassy banks with cardboard sleds— as a group of kids descend down, an equal amount are climbing back up in a chaotic motion not unlike that of the swifts themselves. Birds aside, just being outdoors among the lively crowd of families, friends and community is enough reason to join the fun.  

The swifts aren’t the only birds you’ll see that evening, you are likely to spot the infamous hawk who likes to hangout on the rim of the chimney, waiting to pick off some unlucky swifts—  invoking a unanimous “boo” of everyone in attendance, of course. Come check out these aerial acrobats before it’s too late, the Swifts will be moving on to sunnier retreats in October.  

WWeek 2015