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help needed (1 Viewer)

bicknell64

bicknell64

Well-known member
can anybody help with this bird , i no first reaction is house martin but please look at slimline long wings pointing backwards and white throat patch as swift the size was swift size it looks as though it has white rump but think white sides funny camera angle flew very rapid ?
 

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Agree Alpine Swift you lucky person. Fabulous birds like jumbo sized Common Swift with natty white undersides which show up nicely even when they're whizzing around high above you. :cool:
 
I could still see this being a House Martin, albeit at a strange angle, given what appears to be white on the rump. Any more photos?

As a generalisation, not just related to this thread, there seems to be a huge trend on BF at the moment for people to put a pretty terrible photo up which could be a rarity and then watch as people get a bit carried away with it. Shocking thought, I know, but maybe a bit of time spent looking at birds in the field would clear these up a lot more easily and conclusively?!
 
doesnt apper to be a house martin with the length of the wings but the white patch appears to be on the rump not the underside and thus not alpine swift. I dont have the faintest but without other photos im not sure anyone can be sure.
 
It's not an Alpine Swift. I'm struggling to rise to David's challenge of stringing into anything interesting, actually, although a fanciful case for Little Swift could be made, I guess. But I can't make it into a House Martin, either. More photos, please.

Graham
 
bitterntwisted said:
It's not an Alpine Swift. I'm struggling to rise to David's challenge of stringing into anything interesting, actually, although a fanciful case for Little Swift could be made, I guess. But I can't make it into a House Martin, either. More photos, please.

Graham
Click to expand...

Little Swift is what first popped into my head but that is obviously fanciful for essex and thus a series of better photos would be needed to arrive at that id
 
Wing shape and rump shape look wrong for HM - though with the pic, who can be sure.

Can't get remotely close to ALpine Swift though!
 
I'd struggle to make any case for Little Swift or House Martin for that matter. I'd go for partial albino swift or a really bad pic of a Black winged Pratincole:smoke: Right, now that's sorted, back to the whisky!

Phil
 
Dig out Harris' MacMillan Field Guide to Bird Identification, turn to page 150 and there's the culprit, with the helpful note - "Partial albino Swift. Such individuals are not infrequent and can cause confusion with rarer species." Indeed.
 
Jane Turner said:
Wing shape and rump shape look wrong for HM - though with the pic, who can be sure.
Click to expand...

Agree with you, Jane, that it's not exactly a typical shot.... my rationale was purely that this is far and away the most likely thing, and I can't rule it out. It's usually a good place to start from!
 
Mike Johnston said:
Dig out Harris' MacMillan Field Guide to Bird Identification, turn to page 150 and there's the culprit, with the helpful note - "Partial albino Swift. Such individuals are not infrequent and can cause confusion with rarer species." Indeed.
Click to expand...

that's certainly what it looks like to me
 
Hmm interesting. We need more shots and a full description of its size and action. From this photo however i definitely cant rule out Little Swift. Could be House Martin theoretically, could be very very strange parial albino Common Swift theoretically but I keep looking at it and the wings, the throat patch and surrounds and well demarcated even large rump really puts me in mind of Little Swift...
 
thankyou all for your help very hard to no what it is sorry for poor quality rushed shot in funny light but one thing for sure it wasnt a house martin ? this flew through with house martins and swifts and stood out hence the picture being taken , was swift size maybe a tiny bit smaller to fast to judge thankyou anyway will have to forward it for more ID taken in Rayne essex england cheers.
 
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