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Swift ID Whitburn Co.Durham (1 Viewer)

Adam W

Well-known member
Is this just a Common Swift?
 

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wings look too sharp for pallid and seems uniformly dark although does look masked and scaly - pekinensis Common perhaps?
 
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Yes, seeing them flying is much better but my money is on juvenile Common swift, amongst other things the wing tips are too pointed.
 
The bird you linked to was an adult spring bird with damaged primary tips - though it does have the clearest scaling on the lower belly. I saw that bird and it was incredibly hard to prove in the field the ID (on account of the wing tip damgae) Anyone who tells you these are easy is telling porkies.

The two birds you mention above autumn juv Pallid (right) and common - the wing tip shape and the jizz in flight are waht I find the most useful.
 

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Having looked at the supplied images...I was struck by the ''cleopatra'' eye-lashes looking quite isolated in the pale head. The relative pale underwing coverts and the apparant contrast between the leading and the subordinate primaries which might be at odds with Apus apus. I seem to recall reading in Dutch Birding many years ago that pekinensis (unsure of the spelling) was inseperable in the field from apus.
 
100% Pallid - apus or pekinenis don't show pale bases to belly feathers at any age.

Agreed about the pale bases not shown by Common Swift, but are the pale markings on the underparts of the Whitburn bird bases or tips. I can only see two colours/shades here, not the three colours/shades of Pallid (pale base. darkcentre, pale tip). Having said that, the pale markings on the Whitburn bird do look very broad - too broad for the pale tips showm by Common Swift? I'm stumped!

Brett
 
A heavy crop that i reckon shows pale bases not tips to the belly feathers though what that actually means reguards ID I wouldnt personally know.
 

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Adam did you get any more pictures that you haven't posted, if so would you mind posting them, particularly any that show the mantle in reasonable light. Thanks.
 
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