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Swift, tern, Fuerteventura February (1 Viewer)

opisska

rabid twitcher
Czech Republic
Hi,

just two curious birds. I had the Tern as Sandwich, but how come there are virtually no marks in the wings? And the Swift looks pretty much Pallid, but this should be very rare in February with almost all Swifts Plain, so I am just curious (Plain would be lifer for my wife).

Thanks!
 

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Sandwich Tern and Pallid Swift. Plain is plain, much more delicate and very dark. I had a double take on your post as I thought it said “Swift Tern Fuerteventura February”.

David
 
Sandwich Tern and Pallid Swift. Plain is plain, much more delicate and very dark. I had a double take on your post as I thought it said “Swift Tern Fuerteventura February”.

David

Thanks! And yes I realized how the title looks like the moment I posted it :)
 
I've never been to the islands, so I haven't seen Plain Swift - but this doesn't look like a Pallid to me at all.

Looks like Plain Swift to me, (have been to the islands) too dark for Pallid, the first image is somewhat overexposed as such, and might have contributed to the claim?

Cheers
 
So what swift is it then? I must agree that it doesn't look good for Plain, but if you say it's not right for Pallid then what the hell is it?
 
Pallid Swift is the default Swift on the eastern islands, plain is present but uncommon. Common also occurs. Surely this is too short tailed and not dark enough for Plain? I have seen thousands of Plain Swifts on Tenerife on my last two visits and they struck me as being dark, compact and relatively long tailed. These photographs don’t look like plain to me. I am, however, ready to be educated.
 
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Pallid Swift is the default Swift on the eastern islands, plain is present but uncommon. Common also occurs. Surely this is too short tailed and not dark enough for Plain? I have seen thousands of Plain Swifts on Tenerife on my last two visits and they struck me as being dark, compact and relatively long tailed. These photographs don’t look like plain to me. I am, however, ready to be educated.

Note that this in February when most swifts are gone and what remians is mostly Plain, according to records on ebird for example.

So far it's 6:3 for Plain, but people seem so sure of both options!
 
Well you can't really judge the overall brightness of a bird from a photo, in particular from one that has nothing but the bird and sky. I can adjust the exposure (even in postprocess) to get anywhere from almost black to frosty bright color. Apart from the shape, one has to judge relative colors only.

In this bird, I see the saddle much darker than the wings, which is a clear mark against Plain, as well as the strongly marked underside and the tail possibly. So that's why I put it as Pallid but then many people don't see this as a typical Pallid (which would be a bird people here can be familiar as it is common through a lot of places).
 
I saw a flock of Plain Swifts in the Canary Islands and with the naked eye they looked black in colour.

I'm sure they do - but the images are very well lit so the birds are showing their true colour. Take the example of Common Swift, they are of similar but slightly darker brown than Plain Swift but if you search for images you will quickly find birds that are well lit and perhaps surprisingly pale.

I don't see the contrast between white/whitish throat that a Pallid would show on these images and the wingtps are too pointed. The tail looks quite deeply forked. I think on these images Pallid would look, well paler. If it was a CS, surely the white throat patch would show up...more so on Pallid?
 
I don't believe you should put too much weight on the ebird data. I wouldn't be surprised if many/most identifications there were just assumed on range.
A very recent study found that at least some of the Plain Swift's spend the winter in Liberia and surrounding countries.

To me this bird doesn't look like a Plain Swift, whose tail should be longer. Would Common Swift be an option?

By the way, does anybody else think that the tail of that Sandwich Tern is surprisingly long?
 
I don't believe you should put too much weight on the ebird data. I wouldn't be surprised if many/most identifications there were just assumed on range.
A very recent study found that at least some of the Plain Swift's spend the winter in Liberia and surrounding countries.

To me this bird doesn't look like a Plain Swift, whose tail should be longer. Would Common Swift be an option?

By the way, does anybody else think that the tail of that Sandwich Tern is surprisingly long?

Wouldn't Common Swift be super-rare in winter outside sub-Saharan wintering grounds?

And yes, I am certainly somebody else when it comes to the Tern's tail :)
 
I don't believe you should put too much weight on the ebird data. I wouldn't be surprised if many/most identifications there were just assumed on range.
A very recent study found that at least some of the Plain Swift's spend the winter in Liberia and surrounding countries.

To me this bird doesn't look like a Plain Swift, whose tail should be longer. Would Common Swift be an option?

By the way, does anybody else think that the tail of that Sandwich Tern is surprisingly long?


A thought that occured to me too




A
 
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