Topic: Black Swifts Take Flight in Banff National Park
Presenter: Jennifer Reimer, Project Lead for the Black Swift Monitoring Program in Banff National Park
Date: December 1, 2021
Time: 7:30
Venue: Zoom

General Public Tickets

Info: Black Swifts (Cypseloides niger borealis) are the largest swifts in North America and the only subspecies to occur in Canada. This high flying aerial insectivore is the ultimate habitat specialist seeking commanding views of plunging waterfalls to nest beside. The species was listed as Endangered in Canada in 2019 due to steep declines in the Canadian population. In Banff National Park, Black Swifts have been observed nesting in the park and on the eastern edge of their range since 1919! Researchers are implementing an array of tools to better understand these cryptic creatures who spend most of their lives on the wing! Come find out how Black Swifts are doing in Johnston Canyon and how creativity is key to studying them.

Jennifer Reimer, Project Lead for the Black Swift Monitoring Program in Banff National Park since 2015, has followed birds across the globe for many years, from studying pair duets of the Eastern Whipbird in Australia to conducting seabird inventories off Haida Gwaii and Vancouver Island. After completing her graduate studies on the importance of developing Canada’s first marine protected areas for seabirds, she was soon drawn back to the Rockies and has been working in wildlife management for Parks Canada ever since.