From Opus

Photo by Daniele Occhiato
Photo taken: Calabria, Italy

Apus pallidus

[edit] Identification

16-17 cm.

• Tail is short and forked
• Long swept back wings
• Basically a brown bird with a greyish forehead and dark eye patch
• Large white throat patch.

[edit] Similar Species

Photo by AJDH
Dumistan, Bahrain, January 2009

Common Swift (see references).

[edit] Distribution

Mainly around the Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula and Northern Africa.
In Europe occurs in Portugal (including Madeira), Spain (including the Balearics and the Canary Islands), France (including Corsica), Italy (including Sardinia and Sicily), the Dalmatian Coast, Greece and Cyprus. A small colonoy in Southern Switzerland.
In Africa found in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and in some oasis in the Sahara.
Winters south of the Sahara from Senegal to Ethiopia.
In Asia found in Turkey, the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, the Iranian Coast and in Southern Pakistan.
Vagrants recorded in Britain (c.39 but only since 1977), in spring and October-November, mainly in southern England but also north to Shetland. Elsewhere, recorded in Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, Hungary, Estonia and Norway.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies

There are 3 subspecies^[1]:

• Nominate pallidus is found from inland North Africa; Mauritania (Banc d'Arguin), Sahara hills and Egypt, the Middle East to Iran and Pakistan is pale greyish-brown with extensive white throat.
  
• Brehmorum from Madeira to the Canary Islands, Cyprus and Turkey including coastal North Africa is darker and browner with a reduced throat patch.
  
• The darkest race is illyricus from around the Dalmatian coast of Adriatic Sea; winters in Sahel.

Race illyricus has occurred in Denmark as a vagrant and the first Scottish record, in Orkney in 1996, appeared to belong to race brehmorum.

[edit] Habitat

Usually more coastal than Common Swift but also in river valleys.

[edit] Behaviour

Feeds over open country and towns, breeds in crevices in buildings or cliffs.

[edit] References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2012. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2012. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Birdforum thread discussing id of common and pallid swifts
3. and another Birdforum thread with some amazing photos of both
4. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links