How to tell them apart?

In some regions it can be hard to distinguish between the different swift species. For example, there are places in southern Switzerland, where Apus apus, ssp. apus and Apus pallidus have their nests in the same village. Wintering in Africa, common swifts share their geographic range with several other local or migratory swift species. Some of them look similar, especially when seen while flying and against the sky.

What can you do when you find it difficult to provide your observation of a possible common swift with the right ID?

1. There is now a new field where you can add a link to your audio-observation of the same bird(s). If you managed not only to take a picture of them, but also recorded their calls, this is the place where you can let us know!
2. While in southern Africa, common swifts usually remain silent. You may have taken this exceptionally beautiful shot of a flying bird and know that this must be a common swift. Help the other participants in this project to agree with your ID by adding more pictures of the same observation. These additional pictures may not be just as perfect as your favourite shot. Nevertheless, being taken from a different angle or showing the bird moving on, they may point to a distinctive feature that wasn't visible before.

Scrolling down the list, you will notice another new field. In the field "Several species of swifts" you can add the names of other swift species that can be expected in the same area at the same time of the year.

Last but not least: The field "Would you like to let us know more?" invites you to add any information that may help to understand better your actual common swift observation!

Small changes to the fields: I have tried to improve some of the descriptions of the fields. Thank you for filling in all those that best describe your observation.

Posted on November 28, 2022 06:00 AM by spyr