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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SteveMM" data-source="post: 3240933" data-attributes="member: 130392">Hi Dave,Can't help with the ID I'm afraid. I wasn't trying to make the point that your ID might be wrong, but that everybody's (including my own) assumptions stand a good chance of being wrong due to the simple fact that Aerodramus swiftlets are practically inseparable. I have no literature at all on these things, but do know that ID involves minor differences in measurements, looking for feathering on legs, for dark spots in the feathers of the throat, or at the composition of the nest (what material it has selected etc), none of which is available on any of the birds we get here.You can't help but be a bit worried by the summer arrival dates of all of these individuals (which alone would suggest that they are not Himalayan), and the fact that they prefer to hang around in low-lying coastal areas at times when Himalayan Swiftlet (as its name suggests) should be at high altitude! Germain's Swiftlet apparently breeds as close to Taiwan as Hainan (and favours islands and coastal areas), and for my money is a much more likely culprit as it is a big candidate for range expansion given the effects of global warming (which is real and is happening apace). If they were actually breeding on Matzu, I would say you could call them Germain's without worry (Germain's now being my 'default' favourite). I'm assuming that Uniform Swiftlet (by far the nearest breeding Aerodramus to Taiwan on northern Luzon) lacks a pale rump, but again have no literature on this species (which has to be another very likely candidate for vagrancy).</blockquote>

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