Swifts from Lanzarote, 16 sep (1 Viewer)

[Thibaud]

Hi everybody,

I just came back from the Canaries and I was hoping to gain some expert insight on these bloody swifts.
I saw these on the golf course of Costa Teguise, a famous birding spot on Lanzarote.
Two of these birds seemed quite slender, fairly pale, with long pointed wings and forked tails, with poorly marked pale throat patches. They hunted in very fast loops around the exact same patch of palm trees for about twenty minutes.
I'm thinking both of these were Plain swifts.

Then a number of other swifts suddenly arrived, and hung nearly motionless in the sky for a little while before moving on.
I'm thinking these were Common/Pallid?

However, I wouldn't be surprised if I was wrong about all of these!

As always, many thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Thibaud

 

[KenM]

I wouldn’t like to separate Plain from Common Swift Thibaud.
However fwiw I’m not seeing any typical Pallid Swift’s here…great shots by the way.
Cheers

 

[kuzeycem]

Plain1 and Pallid1 seem to be Plain. Common1 looks fine for, well, Common to me as well. Not sure on Plain2. Anyway, I have no experience with Plain so do take these with many grains of salt.

 

[THE_FERN]

With the disclaimer I've never seen pallid, I'd guess you've got all the IDs correct.

The ones you've labelled pallid have no clear whitish throat patch (ruling out common) and more obviously rounded wings (as compared with plain). They also have scaly underparts.

Interesting for me is that pain appears darker than the others (contra Collins), and the wings are thinner, more pointed

Edit: the one labelled pallid seems to have (slightly) more rounded wings compared with the plain. I think that supports your ID (I'm trying to take stance into account with this comment)

 

[Butty]

The ones labelled pallid are pallid.

 

[KenM]

I’m not seeing any real difference between the last two images labelled Pallid and the right hand Common Swift above.

Other than the “Pallids” below are marginally better lit, thus making the scalloping more obvious…which can also be seen on Common in good light.

FWIW I encountered a Pallid Swift on Fuerteventura several years ago during late December that was particularly gingery and heavily scalloped, quite a markedly different beast altogether.

Cheers

 

[Butty]

I’m not seeing any real difference between the last two images labelled Pallid and the right hand Common Swift above.
Other than the “Pallids” below are marginally better lit, thus making the scalloping more obvious…which can also be seen on Common in good light.

That bird ('Common 1') differs from the two labelled as pallid swifts in having a far more pronounced and sharply delineated pale throat-patch, no pale feather fringing on the underparts, and is in flight-feather moult.

 

[KenM]

That bird ('Common 1') differs from the two labelled as pallid swifts in having a far more pronounced and sharply delineated pale throat-patch, no pale feather fringing on the underparts, and is in flight-feather moult.

I’ve often found distinct variability in Common Swift throat patch delineation.
True, light dependancy is all, but I’ve seen enough Swifts in a flock to note that some will have obvious throat patches and others less so.
I’m not convinced that the bottom two are as claimed, preferring classic examples with this species as it’s cosmetic variability….is just that!

Cheers

 

[THE_FERN]

Other than the “Pallids” below are marginally better lit, thus making the scalloping more obvious…which can also be seen on Common in good light.

You'll disagree, Ken, but I find the light similar. When I zoom in to the "common swift" picture I see no evidence at all of scalloping.

I can't make a big point of this because of the way the wing is bunched but I'd note that the dark outer, pale inner wing panel is visible on the "pallid".

 

[KenM]

You'll disagree, Ken, but I find the light similar. When I zoom in to the "common swift" picture I see no evidence at all of scalloping.

I can't make a big point of this because of the way the wing is bunched but I'd note that the dark outer, pale inner wing panel is visible on the "pallid".

Certainly not disagreeing for the sake of it, however as far as differentiating between Common and Pallid is concerned I’d be comfortable with a more “Classic” example of Pallid Swift, not unlike the bird that I mentioned up post.

Cheers

 

[Earnest lad]

Local knowledge as to the usual period of Common Swfit migration in the region might be helpful. If the main migration period is past by now one could look perhaps more confidently at these as being more likely to be Plain Swift. I saw some swift specie in a flock when I visited Gran Canaria some time ago. I wasnt able to spot any features that might have helped me assign which they were. However, my enquiries revealed that Common Swift would normally be long long gone from this region by that time. However the month in this instance was December, not September. Does anyone know whether Common Swift are usually still passing through the Canaries region in September.

 

[Thibaud]

Thanks for the responses, gents!
As for the timing of migration, looking at ebird bar charts (with the caveat of possible misidentifications, of course), there are reports of both Common and Pallid until the end of september for Lanzarote, and looking at data for the Canaries as a whole to increase the sample size, there are reports of Common until mid October, and Pallid actually reported (albeit in much smaller numbers) throughout the winter months.

 

[Thibaud]

Wait, I had this wrong! As per Collins, Pallid is supposed to have an even whiter throat than Common! And looking at a bunch of photos from Madeira, quite a few Plain have fairly marked scalloping, so I wonder if what I called Pallid1 might not actually be Plain?

 

[THE_FERN]

Wait, I had this wrong! As per Collins, Pallid is supposed to have an even whiter throat than Common! And looking at a bunch of photos from Madeira, quite a few Plain have fairly marked scalloping, so I wonder if what I called Pallid1 might not actually be Plain?

Judging by threads here, it's not so much that the throat is "even whiter" and more that the throat patch is ill defined and extends over a larger area than common. You'll note I'm not alone in thinking you've correctly id'd them. See also my original comment about Collins/plain swift

(Collins is good but not infallible)

 

[kuzeycem]

The ones labelled pallid are pallid.

Waist too thin and tail too long for Pallid, with a barely existing throat patch.

 

[Thibaud]

OK so summing up:
The first two birds I had labelled as Plain, everyone agrees are indeed Plain.
Common 1 looks good for Common.
Pallid 1 is the source of the most contention. For what it's worth, I upload all my photos to inaturalist, and I had a couple of Spanish birders ID it as Plain as well.
Still, I'm very pleased to see that the birds I thought were Plain (a lifer for me!) were indeed that, and I'm happy to leave some of my photos not IDed to species level.
Many thanks to you experts once again!!
I'll leave you with one last image taken a couple days prior, though I realize that one is probably unidentifiable 😜
T

 

[KenM]

OK so summing up:
The first two birds I had labelled as Plain, everyone agrees are indeed Plain.
Common 1 looks good for Common.
Pallid 1 is the source of the most contention. For what it's worth, I upload all my photos to inaturalist, and I had a couple of Spanish birders ID it as Plain as well.
Still, I'm very pleased to see that the birds I thought were Plain (a lifer for me!) were indeed that, and I'm happy to leave some of my photos not IDed to species level.
Many thanks to you experts once again!!
I'll leave you with one last image taken a couple days prior, though I realize that one is probably unidentifiable 😜
T

“I’ll pine” for the answer to that one Thibaud.😂