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Apus pallidus
All these show a paler brownish hue in good light which suggests they are Pallid Swifts as it is Spring. In Autumn adult Swifts are also worn brown while the juveniles are sooty black. The first 3 are most likely Pallids while the other 3 are uncertain.
Coastal marshes
Spotted on May 2, 2013
Submitted on Jun 26, 2013
6 Comments
I've moved picture 1 to position 4 as the other 3 go brownish and show a scaly effect so are now in positions 1, 2 & 3. What is now position 4 is not in focus enough to judge. Interestingly 6 goes much browner than 5 on the upper wings. I have also amended the text to reflect this. Thanks for your input.
What I said was "fairly rare on the Mediterranean coast". Here is what Lars Johnson says about the Pallid Swift: "Largely replaces the latter [Swift] in those areas nearest Mediterranean Sea". So while both species are present in large numbers in most of the peninsula it is likely that the huge flocks over the Mediterranean coast are mainly Pallids with some Common mixed in. I don't disagree that some may be Common. When I increase the brightness on the PC if they start to take on a brownish hue they are likely to be Pallid while if they go greyish they are likely to be Common. When I started I had them all as Common but after increasing the brightness all these turned pale brown, the only one which stayed grey is in a separate spotting. Most of my pictures are not sharp enough to show the patterning which is present on the Pallid but absent on the Common.
Apus apus: ppiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrr
Apus pallidus: piiiiiiiihhhhh
This is how I distinguish them!
What I'm saying is that the darker ones (like the one on pic 6) might be common swifts, and not pallid swift's juvs which normally disperse. And they can't be rare, here in Portugal both species are fairly common, especially from late April to September.
From what I have read the Apus apus is fairly rare on the Mediterranean coast and only arrives in late April/early May when this picture was taken, with the juveniles not returning until 3 years old, so a juvenile is unlikely. The Pallids are already here from late February/early March. My hearing is not good so I rarely hear their calls anyway. They are often mixed with Swallows, Martins and Pratincoles here and we also get Alpine Swifts which are much easier to ID. I am never confident of the ID between Common and Pallid.
Could the "juveniles" be Common swifts (Apus apus)?
They often form mixed bands.
They're more easily told apart by their calls than by photos, though.