Swift with White Patches on Head (1 Viewer)

[NoSpringChicken]

Here are a couple of poor shots of one of the Swifts flying over my garden the other day. Does anybody know what the white patches on the head are? I have never noticed them before but, no doubt, they are a common feature.

Ron

 

[Farnboro John]

Here are a couple of poor shots of one of the Swifts flying over my garden the other day. Does anybody know what the white patches on the head are? I have never noticed them before but, no doubt, they are a common feature.

Ron

Quite a few swifts have random patches of pale feathers. Sometimes they are where other species of swift have pale patches and then they can take a little while to sort out!

Below is one I saw the other week.

John

 

[jurek]

I wonder if the first one is not an attached tick. Do Swifts get ticks? Would it be able to live with it?

 

[Andy Adcock]

Doesn't this bird also looks blacker than normal?

 

[Ian Foster]

Hasn't this sort of thing been discussed before? Maybe even an old article in BB or Birding World? Think it could be a white feather collected for nesting material?

 

[NoSpringChicken]

Many thanks for all your replies. Thinking about it the last suggestion of feathers for nesting material sounds good. I had some other shots where the white patches are on both sides of the head and look quite fluffy and tufty. I think I might have deleted them as they were not very good but I will see if I have still got them.

Ron

 

[foresttwitcher]

I think Ian has nailed it.

 

[Euan Buchan]

Like what Ian says think they are nesting material if you look closely under the chin it looks like a piece is dangling. Great shots though.

 

[NoSpringChicken]

Here is another shot of a Swift over my garden. I think this one suggests that it is indeed a white feather that it has collected for nesting material.

Ron