Plain Swift - Tenerife (Covert birding) (1 Viewer)

[Stuart Goodwin]

Good morning all.

To celebrate a number of significant milestones, we are on holiday in Tenerife, only our second overseas holiday in 20+ years.

Anyway, can I check that the circa 5 Swifts flying over the hotel complex are most likely Plain Swifts.

The birds seem to have a more fluttering wingbeat with sharper turns, more like bats, than the Common Swift. They also seem smaller.

Being around the pool and being on a family holiday I don’t have my bins to hand.

Any replies would be most appreciated as this would be a lifer.

Regards

 

[Harrybongo]

Good morning all.

To celebrate a number of significant milestones, we are on holiday in Tenerife, only our second overseas holiday in 20+ years.

Anyway, can I check that the circa 5 Swifts flying over the hotel complex are most likely Plain Swifts.

The birds seem to have a more fluttering wingbeat with sharper turns, more like bats, than the Common Swift. They also seem smaller.

Being around the pool and being on a family holiday I don’t have my bins to hand.

Any replies would be most appreciated as this would be a lifer.

Regards

Hi. By your description, (smaller, very fast flying and sharp turns), it does sound like a plain swift! 👍..........enjoy your hol

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

Good morning all.

To celebrate a number of significant milestones, we are on holiday in Tenerife, only our second overseas holiday in 20+ years.

Anyway, can I check that the circa 5 Swifts flying over the hotel complex are most likely Plain Swifts.

The birds seem to have a more fluttering wingbeat with sharper turns, more like bats, than the Common Swift. They also seem smaller.

Being around the pool and being on a family holiday I don’t have my bins to hand.

Any replies would be most appreciated as this would be a lifer.

Regards

Sounds good, the ebird statistics are in your favour too.

 

[Butty]

the ebird statistics are in your favour too

Yes indeed - citizen-science data from people who've travelled a long way hoping to see a difficult-to-identify species (and impressions of size without comparison) are exactly what one should be relying on 🙄

 

[WACCOE]

Always take your bins on holiday.

 

[Stuart Goodwin]

Hi. By your description, (smaller, very fast flying and sharp turns), it does sound like a plain swift! 👍..........enjoy your hol

Thank you for the reply and the support on the ID. Will try to enjoy the hols but temperature heading towards 40C. Some early morning wanders I think before it gets to hot.

Regards.

 

[Harrybongo]

Thank you for the reply and the support on the ID. Will try to enjoy the hols but temperature heading towards 40C. Some early morning wanders I think before it gets to hot.

Regards.

👍

 

[Stuart Goodwin]

Sounds good, the ebird statistics are in your favour too.View attachment 1525368

Thank you for the reply and Ebird data.

Always take your bins on holiday.

Afternoon.

I have my old pair of RSPB bins in the hotel room, but didn’t think having them around the pool while the kids swam was the best option.

It made the Canary Chiffchaff that worked its way around the pool a lot harder to ID!

Regards

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

Yes indeed - citizen-science data from people who've travelled a long way hoping to see a difficult-to-identify species (and impressions of size without comparison) are exactly what one should be relying on 🙄

My reply (to a non-photographed) briefly described bird was ‘sounds good.’ That’s quite different to ‘yes it’s definitely a Plain Swift.’

I said the ebird data was ‘favourable’ as in its statistically more likely to be Plain Swift, not it ‘must be a Plain Swift on that data.’

Maybe my reply was too nuanced. 😉

 

[dantheman]

On casual views, wouldn't Plain Swift appear appreciably (enough?) slimmer and skinnier than Pallid Swift (the resident confusion species)?? (Maybe indicative of 'smaller' as mentioned)

Pallid Swift a bit blunter winged and bodied than Common, Plain going the other way ...

 

[Butty]

its statistically more likely to be Plain Swift

Only if you don't question the validity of the data - which is what I was doing. Maybe my reply was too nuanced. 😉

 

[Stuart Goodwin]

My reply (to a non-photographed) briefly described bird was ‘sounds good.’ That’s quite different to ‘yes it’s definitely a Plain Swift.’

I said the ebird data was ‘favourable’ as in its statistically more likely to be Plain Swift, not it ‘must be a Plain Swift on that data.’

Maybe my reply was too nuanced. 😉

Afternoon.

Personally I got that broadly, based on my limited description, that the likelihood was that the birds were probably Plain Swifts but no more than that.

Regards

 

[THE_FERN]

Yes indeed - citizen-science data from people who've travelled a long way hoping to see a difficult-to-identify species (and impressions of size without comparison) are exactly what one should be relying on 🙄

Obviously one has to judge each on its merits. However, bar charts look broadly correct to me—common swift records are +/- what I'd expect. Of course there are less experienced people in the Canaries but many are more experienced too. Anyone reading up will quickly discover the confusion species and should be primed on what to look for.

(Elsewhere it's less clear. Is Invisible Rail really on Obi?)

 

[Patudo]

I have my old pair of RSPB bins in the hotel room

Try em from your hotel balcony/window next time the swifts are back (ought be a decent chance they will). What's the best field mark - the paler chin patch being more obvious in both pallids and commons than plain swifts?

I visit the Canary Islands fairly regularly, and have often seen dark swifts that, as the OP says, seem to have a different flight pattern to common swifts, and also look a little smaller - but haven't sought to nail down an ID.

 

[Stuart Goodwin]

Try em from your hotel balcony/window next time the swifts are back (ought be a decent chance they will). What's the best field mark - the paler chin patch being more obvious in both pallids and commons than plain swifts?

I visit the Canary Islands fairly regularly, and have often seen dark swifts that, as the OP says, seem to have a different flight pattern to common swifts, and also look a little smaller - but haven't sought to nail down an ID.

Morning.

Will give it a go. Using the Wildguides Wildlife of Medeira & the Canaries and the Collins app for reference.

Regards

 

[Jeff Woad]

Hi Stuart,

I just returned from Tenerife (S side) and did have bins. Plain Swifts were very common around the hotel complex and over most of the island, and your description perfectly fits how they appear with the naked eye.

JW

 

[Stuart Goodwin]

Hi Stuart,

I just returned from Tenerife (S side) and did have bins. Plain Swifts were very common around the hotel complex and over most of the island, and your description perfectly fits how they appear with the naked eye.

JW

Thank you Jeff.

I hope you had a good trip. Got better eyeball views today. B*ggers to try to follow with bins though. I thought watching Common Swifts was bad enough!

Regards.

 

[Bubbs]

Plain Swift discovered breeding in mainland Portugal

Paulo Belo outlines a remarkable range expansion for a species thought previously confined to Macaronesia as a breeder.

www.birdguides.com

 

[Harveysmum]

In Costa adeje they seem to appear about 3pm each afternoon. There are literally hundreds of them swooping and sharp turning. Like low level bombing runs. Amazing to watch each day. We saw them first several years ago and thought they may be bats. As quickly as they arrive they disappear again about 5pm.

 

[Derbyfella]

In Costa adeje they seem to appear about 3pm each afternoon. There are literally hundreds of them swooping and sharp turning. Like low level bombing runs. Amazing to watch each day. We saw them first several years ago and thought they may be bats. As quickly as they arrive they disappear again about 5pm.

indeed, i think i saw them most days round the dreams hotel area, only occasionally seeing common swifts which still made their normal screaming but flew in numbers rather than individually.