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Plain Swift or Plain Or'nary (Yorkshire 2012) (1 Viewer)

A traditional church spire or chimney in the background would've been nice ... ;)

As would seeing the whole series of photos taken on the day (of the rest of the Common Swifts) to help ascertain photo artefact effects etc..
 
Looks a bit 'fat ar*ed' and bulky, the wings look rather broad and the tail fork too shallow for Plain. Having said that Swifts are easier to ID in the field and even then ................ the temptation to run away and hide in the pub is sometimes too strong.


Chris
 
I presume it's the throat that made the photographer think they were Plain Swift, so I suppose the question is simply about variability of this feature (or any other feature which may suggest Plain here) in Common Swift.

Edit: just noticed the WIP thread in the rare bird info section, so ignore the first bit ;)
 
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I presume it's the throat that made the photographer think they were Plain Swift, so I suppose the question is simply about variability of this feature (or any other feature which may suggest Plain here) in Common Swift.

Edit: just noticed the WIP thread in the rare bird info section, so ignore the first bit ;)

I don't think that a Common Swift appearing to have a throat at least as dark as this bird in the field is even slightly unusual. Or in photographs for that matter; take a quick browse through Birdguides Iris, there are many examples that look darker then this. I would be interested to see what the photographers' other pictures of swifts taken at the the same time look like. I think the only realistic chance of a positive ID on this bird is an assessment of size (hard enough anyway) and structure and that is probably going to require other swifts to be in the same frame. Equally a Common Swift or two in the frame would help establish the circumstances of the photo.
 
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I don't think that a Common Swift appearing to have a throat at least as dark as this bird in the field is even slightly unusual. Or in photographs for that matter; take a quick browse through Birdguides Iris, there are many examples that look darker then this. I would be interested to see what the photographers' other pictures of swifts taken at the the same time look like. I think the only realistic chance of a positive ID on this bird is an assessment of size (hard enough anyway) and structure and that is probably going to require other swifts to be in the same frame. Equally a Common Swift or two in the frame would help establish the circumstances of the photo.

I'm of the same opinion about the variability of appearance of Common Swift, I just meant in the UK context of this photo, the question isn't really about the bird looking good for Plain Swift, but the variability of the common species.
Even the difference in flight between adult and juv Common Swift would be at least as obvious as the difference described by the photographer when he suddenly says he noticed it was flying differently at the time, having first said he only noticed it when reviewing the photos.
 
I'm of the same opinion about the variability of appearance of Common Swift, I just meant in the UK context of this photo, the question isn't really about the bird looking good for Plain Swift, but the variability of the common species.
Even the difference in flight between adult and juv Common Swift would be at least as obvious as the difference described by the photographer when he suddenly says he noticed it was flying differently at the time, having first said he only noticed it when reviewing the photos.

I'm in complete agreement with all your points.
 
Looks a bit 'fat ar*ed' and bulky, the wings look rather broad and the tail fork too shallow for Plain. Having said that Swifts are easier to ID in the field and even then ................ the temptation to run away and hide in the pub is sometimes too strong.


Chris

I'm finding it hard to judge from the tiny image on BG, but I'm not sure I agree on either wing breadth or tail fork. Check out these links to birds taken on Fuerteventura in March:
http://www.pbase.com/james_lowen/image/142152385
http://www.pbase.com/james_lowen/image/142152384
http://www.pbase.com/james_lowen/image/142152383

I agree that some evidence of location would be important.
 
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