WHITE-COLLARED SWIFT Streptoprocne zonaris (Shaw, 1796)

Accepted: 1 (100%)	Treated in Appendix H: no
Not accepted: 0	CBRC review: all records
Not submitted/reviewed: 0	Color image: none

This large swift patrols wide swaths of the neotropics, from southern and eastern Mexico and various Caribbean islands south to northern Argentina. The species ranges north to Guerrero and possibly Jalisco on Mexico’s Pacific slope and wanders irregularly northward. Northerly vagrants have been recorded nine times: four each in winter and spring plus one in fall. All are from coastal locations, or near the shores of Great Lakes, in Michigan, southern Ontario, Florida, Texas, and California. Two specimens, from Florida and Texas, refer to the large Mexican subspecies, S. z. mexicana, whereas a small Florida specimen appears to represent S. z. pallidifrons of the West Indies (ABA 2002).

California’s lone record of the White-collared Swift refers to a bird observed on 21 May 1982 at Pt. Saint George, Del Norte County (Erickson et al. 1989). This individual, which showed characteristics of mexicana in its first spring, represented the species’ northernmost record until subsequent spring records from Michigan (Dunn 1996) and Ontario (ap Rheinallt 2003). Semo and Booher (2002) reviewed identification issues and details of the North American records through 2001.

The White-collared Swift, Bridled Tern, and White-winged Crossbill are the only three species on the state list that still lack a California specimen or photograph.