North American Swallow ID (1 Viewer)

I saw this swallow flying around at a boat yard while my father and I were prepping our boat to be put into the water.

The were lots of swallows. I believe the majority of them were Barn Swallows, but I noticed a few did not look like Barn Swallows. When I saw the bird (below) land nearby, I snapped a picture. Seeing it on the screen, I've narrowed it down to several possibilities. I've used the Levels correction in Photoshop to try and get a better look at some of the features of the bird. The bird is facing away from the camera, so no throat markings are visible. I did notice a lighter-colored band going from the chin to the back of the head, but it's a very small difference.

I don't know how much more information I can give you. It was several days ago, and I've pretty much forgotten the flight style. Come to think of it, it was a slightly more direct flight than the Barn Swallows, which were making quick, abrupt swerves and turns.

Today, I saw some Cliff Swallows. I don't think the mystery swallow or martin had a pale rump.

Sorry about the poor picture quality. I think something's wrong with the bloody camera; the photos have been getting rather pixelated as of late.

This bird looks good for a Northern Rough-Winged Swallow to me

chubri777 said:

This bird looks good for a Northern Rough-Winged Swallow to me

Click to expand...

Agreed. Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

Alan

Northern rough winged also for me, though I know it only from the books (never been on your side of the pond)...

But what is that thingy lying on the ground around the bird? looks a bit like snake skin?!

Joern, it does look like a snake skin. But in fact it's a material that boat yards use to hold shrink wrap in place on boats over the cold winters here. We take the boats out of the water to store them for the winter. Don't want the ice damaging the hulls, now do we?


So it is what I thought it was. Thanks, everyone! Now I've seen pretty much all the swallows in North America, except for the Cave Swallow and Purple Martin.