About two dozen people came to Chapman Elementary School to see the Vaux’s swifts one hazy evening last week. Just before sunset, they laid out their blankets and their picnic spreads, turned to face the decommissioned chimney at the Northwest Portland school, and they waited.

All the other elements of the season were in place—leaves starting to crisp, school back in session—but this year, for the first time in about 30 years, no birds came.

“We can’t really answer for sure why they left us, but we know they did leave,” says Joe Liebezeit, statewide conservation director for Bird Alliance of Oregon.

In an interview, Liebezeit used verbs like “abandoned,” “left” and “moved,” and, most alarmingly, he spoke of the Chapman swifts in the past tense. As in, “it was a really special event for

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