beijingbabbler
Well-known member
Hello, I saw this swiftlet-like bird flying low over a hilly area, low enough so that when it was flying with a hill in the background without backlight, I could clearly see its gray rump on the otherwise all black bird. I'm pretty sure Himalayan is the only likely swiftlet to occur here. Behavior like stiff wingbeats also points to swiftlet, it's also how I noted it in the first place within a swallow flock. Only thing is, I only got to digiscope one photo (didn't have camera) before it flew out of sight. It doesn't look like a pacific swift, much much smaller and lack of deep forked tail, and definitely not a swallow being all black against dark background, shape and flight is wrong either. Although I'm 90% sure of the species through observation by eye, I'd like to know if it's possible to confirm through the photo, as apparently there haven't been records in this province before. Thanks!
