---
title: "Black Swift"
description: "Cypseloides niger — Birds. The American black swift, or more simply black swift (Cypseloides niger), is a species of bird that is found from northern British Columbia in Canada through the United States and Mexico to Costa Rica and Brazil."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/black-swift
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Black Swift

> Cypseloides niger — Birds. The American black swift, or more simply black swift (Cypseloides niger), is a species of bird that is found from northern British Columbia in Canada through the United States and Mexico to Costa Rica and Brazil.

- Scientific name: *Cypseloides niger*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: unknown
- iNaturalist observations: 1029
- Wikidata: [Q1267488](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1267488)
- iNaturalist taxon: [6667](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/6667)

## Names

- en: Black Swift
- de: Schwarzsegler
- es: Vencejo Negro
- fr: Martinet sombre
- nl: Zwarte gierzwaluw
- pt: Taperuçu-escuro
- pl: Cierniosternik czarny

## Countries with the most observations

US (379), CA (253), MX (85), CR (29), PA (10), MQ (8), PR (8), DM (6), HN (6), GP (4)

## Summary

The American black swift, or more simply black swift (Cypseloides niger), is a species of bird that is found from northern British Columbia in Canada through the United States and Mexico to Costa Rica and Brazil. They are also found in the Caribbean.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_black_swift

## Photo

![Black Swift](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/black-swift/medium.jpg)

Photo: davidbroadland · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/302286044

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/black-swift?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).