New Mexico, USA - April 19, 2024

Despite the fact that It's still a bit early for a full bat season in Carlsbad Caverns National Park visitors to the Park who hike down through the cave's natural entrance trail often tell rangers that they saw bats hanging from the ceiling and even flying around. But these creatures spotted by visitors are not bats but birds.

The adult Cave Swallow is a small bird with a small head and bill, a pale chestnut face and throat, a darker forehead, back, and wings, and a pale underbelly. In flight, it can be identified by its square-shaped tail and broad wings, and by its circular “twists” it does in the sky.

This footage illustrates a swarm of Cave Swallow loudly tweeting and flying around within the depths of the cave.

Carlsbad Cavern hosts a large colony of breeding Cave Swallows every year, with the number of individuals reaching up to several thousand. The Swallows build their nests along the recesses and outer edges of the cave’s natural entrance. The nests are cup-shaped and often made of mud and bat guano.