Yesterday morning, while birding in the lower Bonne Femme Valley, south of Columbia, I encountered my first cliff swallows of the season. As usual, they were zooming above the creek and beneath a bridge, under which they will nest.
Having wintered in southern South America, they have completed a lengthy roundtrip migration and it is always good to see them in mid spring. While the various swallow species are often difficult to distinguish, especially in flight, cliff swallows sport a buff-colored rump; that physical trait and their fondness for bridges usually makes identification easy.
Cliff swallows are most common throughout the western half of the U.S. and Canada with some nesting as far north as Alaska. They are the famous swallows of San Juan Capistrano, in California; around here, they're just another summer species but are certainly welcome, seasonal additions to the avian fauna.
