More than 80 per cent of the black swift population in North America resides in Canada. The COSEWIC report says that negative population trends between 1973 and 2012 show a decline in population by more than 50 per cent. Along with threats such as airborne pollutants, climate change, and logging, COSEWIC says that recreational activities could be a negligible factor impacting the black swifts.

“It’s a general issue where you have a lot of people and a lot of wildlife,” says Carolyn Callaghan, senior conservation biologist in terrestrial wildlife at the Canadian Wildlife Foundation. “Banff has a lot of people.” 

Callaghan says that most wildlife will always try to hang on to their best quality habitat until this is no longer possible. 

“They will do that until at which time humans are no longer predictable and they can’t work around them, or the volume is just too high. Then they would just abandon their habitat,” she says. 

To help increase nesting numbers and bring some of the black swifts back to the area, the location where the birds nest in Johnston Canyon has remained closed off to tourists to reduce human activity. Clear warning signs indicate to tourists that the area is not to be visited, but there have still been reports of violators. 

In 2019, Banff National Park wardens charged 77 people under the National Parks Act for breaking the restricted activity order. Daniella Rubeling, the visitor experience manager for Banff National Park says this year, there have only been seven charges. 

“It’s a significant decrease from last year, but there is also a lot less activity of people up there as well,” she says, adding that the road used to access the parking lot to Johnston Canyon is currently restricted from motor-vehicle access. Only hikers or visitors traveling by bike can access the area. She says that because of this, the park is seeing a lot fewer people at this time. 

During the same time frame, the number of black swift nests has increased from one nest in 2019, to three as of Spring 2020. 

“That’s six birds in total, which I know doesn’t sound like a lot, but that is a three-fold increase,” says Rubeling. “That’s actually more nesting activity than we have seen in the last 16 years in that area.” 

Although there is no concrete evidence that can confirm that less human activity is the reason for the increase in black swift nesting, it is still beneficial for the birds. 

“Any kind of swift or swallow is in steep decline,” says Callaghan. “So the fact that there is a rebound is very interesting.”