[ettrick]

13th February 2007 - one swift seen in Erbil, Kurdistan, Northern Iraq - thought it was a common but on 18th February 2 pallids seen in the same city. I have not seen any in the city or nearby mountains since early June last year so am presuming they are very, very early migrants and were all pallids. EErbil is a big city so there must be many more present. I see they can be resident in Egypt and in other breeding areas in the Middle East in winter so could be from not too far away. Any comments appreciated as I am the only birder to my knowledge in this area.

Alan Galbraith

[ggregory71]

In Kuwait, most Pallid Swifts first arrive in about November and stay until about May. Of course there are records in other months. They have a strange migration/breeding pattern. It is possible that it resembles that of Painted Lady, i.e. breeding early in one area, then moving north and breeding again, and so on. I believe that there was an article on this in Sandgrouse fairly recently. This pattern may also occur in other bird species such as Spanish Sparrow and Quail.

[ettrick]

Thanks Gregory for this info. A fellow birder in Abu Dhabi was very surprised that I saw pallid swifts so early in Erbil but since my first sighting I have seen many swifts, and think most, if not all, have been pallid. None identified yet as common although they have been seen in April by me here (I have only been in Erbil since mid April 2006). My friend in Abu Dhabi does acknowledge that much is known about pattens of migration and breeding of pallids is vague as yet.

As a matter of interest Spanish sparrows are fairly common here in late summer and pin-tailed sandgrouse have been seen several times. Quail has eluded me as yet but birding in Kurdistan is not so easy. I'll be in Kuwait again, late April - early May so may catch some pallids!