>> GENERAL >>>>>
– small near-passerine, larger than sparrow, same size as Common Swift
– diurnal migrant, always airborne thus nocturnal as well
– migrates singly or in small, very loose flocks
>> VISUAL ID >>>>>
Pallid Swift Apus p. pallidus, 2CY
BIF0580, 11/02/2015, Sur, Oman, Mathias Putze
– white throat patch larger but more diffuse than in Common Swift
– in good lighting the overall colour is greyish to milky brown (not sooty as in Common Swift)
– underside appears scaly
Pallid Swift Apus p. pallidus, 2CY
BIF0887, 11/02/2015, Sur, Oman, Mathias Putze
– contrast between darker underwing coverts and paler remiges more clinal and not as distict as in Common Swift
– plain head with dark ‚eye-mask‘
– broader ‚hips‘
Pallid Swift Apus p. pallidus, 2CY
BIF0888, 11/02/2015, Sur, Oman, Mathias Putze
– before first moult all larger feathers with narrow white fringes (to lesser extend also shown by 1CY Common Swift)
Pallid Swift Apus p. pallidus, 2CY
BIF0889, 11/02/2015, Sur, Oman, Mathias Putze
– rather blunt wing tip
– darker back and lesser wing coverts slightly contrasting (can form a fairly distinct dark ‚saddle‘ in AD)
Pallid Swift Apus p. pallidus, 2CY
BIF0890, 11/02/2015, Sur, Oman, Mathias Putze
– body somewhat more robust than Common Swift but can be hard to judge in field
>> ACOUSTIC ID >>>>>
– most common a two-syllabled piercing ‘scream’
– the first part is a sustained, fine modulated overslur
– the second part is a phrase of fast similar vertical elements (trill)
– the trill is narrower spaced in males (faster)
– initial, peak and final frequency lower than in Common Swift
Pallid Swift Apus p. pallidus, F M, calls in flight
BIF2876, 20/02/2019, Metzoke Dragot, Israel, Patrick Franke
Pallid Swift Apus p. pallidus, M, calls in flight
BIF2877, 20/02/2019, Metzoke Dragot, Israel, Patrick Franke
>> COMPARISON SPECIES >>>>>
Common Swift (a) (v)
Pacific Swift (a) (v)
Alpine Swift (v)
White-rumped Swift (v)
#nearpasserine
#ornithology #birdmigration #birdID #birdguide #birding #birdwatching #birdsound #westernpalearctic #europe #vismig #flightcalls #middleeast #northernafrica #workinprogress