Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Vaux's Swift
Scientific name:	Chaetura vauxi
Date:	5/13/2025
Time:	1:45pm
Length of time observed:	30 minutes
Number:	1
Age:	?
Sex:	?
Location:	Garr Ranch, Antelope Island SP
County:	Davis
Latilong:	40.924517, -112.166650
Elevation:	4240~
Distance to bird:	Less than 3ft at closest
Optical equipment:	Nikon 10x42 binocular
Weather:	Overcast, breezy, cool, 55F
Light Conditions:	Good, flat light
Description: Size of bird:	small swift
(Description:) Basic Shape:	cigar with wings
(Description:) Overall Pattern:	overall drab grayish brown
(Description:) Bill Type:	tiny
(Description:) Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics:	As I was crossing the mowed field, I noticed a tiny brown bird fly by me at high speed, then noted the stiff frantic wingbeats of a swift. I noticed it was doing a circuit repeating the same flight pattern, so I put myself right in its circuit to get great point blanks looks at it, often just a few feet away and watched it in my binos getting great looks for some time. Photos were harder due to the swift nature of its flight. I had to duck several times to avoid being hit! I noted it was a dull grayish brown, but the throat and rump where a paler gray than the rest of the body and wings. It had a dark eye with a narrow line in the lores between the eye and the bill. The bill itself was tiny and black. The body was very compact and short, shorter than each wing, with bristles sticking out of the end of the tail. The wings were long and broad based. There was no direct size comparison, no other swallows or swifts were nearby, and overall impression of size was skewed by the close proximity of the bird. I did see a Barn Swallow nearby once, but it was higher not giving a direct size comparison. So although size was hard to judge, structure and plumage favored the much more likely Vaux's over Chimney. (see photos)
Song or call & method of delivery:	Silent
Behavior:	Doing a circuit, flying low and fast over that short grass, then swooping up and over the trees by the spring, sometimes flying out over the marsh to the east, then back over the lawn, repeating as long as I was there
Habitat:	A mowed pasture near a spring grown with poplars and willows
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	Swallows-all have a slower more leisurely flight style, with a different movement to the wings in flight due to the placement of the wing joint farther from the body, swallows often do a little tuck of the wings against the body that swifts never due and move the wing in a rowing motion very different from a swift. White-throated Swift: the common swifts in Utah and I'm very familiar with them. They are much larger with longer forked tails and black and white plumage, never dull brown. Black Swift-much larger with longer squared or notched tails, sooty blackish, never dull brownish Chimney Swift-most similar, but generally larger and darker. Often, but not always, have a darker throat and rump, and are darker brown overall. Generally have a longer bodied look and more sickle shaped wings: the body is longer behind the wings, giving them a lengthier proportion, not as compact, and wings longer and narrower based. Another field mark noted, Chimney have wider darker lores, forming more of a dark wedge between the eye and bill, Vaux's have a narrower dark line between the eye and the bill, which can be seen in my photos
Previous experience with this & similar species:	Yes, many Vaux's in UT,WA,CA, AZ and MX. I've also seen many CHSW in TX, including going to a roost at dusk about 1 month ago and watching hundreds spiral into the chimney.
References consulted:	Sibley app
Description from:	From photo(s) taken at the time of the sighting
Observer:	Bryant Olsen
Observer's address:	Address: 84102
Observer's e-mail address:	**
Other observers who independently identified this bird:	David Wheeler and Lauri Taylor observed it later that afternoon at the same location
Date prepared:	5/14/25
Additional material:	Photos
Additional comments:	eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S237498033