Swifts for confirmation - Bulgaria (1 Viewer)

[raddev]

Hello everyone, I am having hard time distinguishing between the Common and Pallid swifts.

All of the attached images seem to be Pallid, but I know they are rarer than the Common.
All the shots are taken near a hotel in a mountaneous area ~ 1000 m altitude.

What's the main feature of Pallids that we should be looking? Based on the Collins it should be that the dark brownish ring around the eye should be more apparent for the Pallid than the Common. To me, on all photos, it is indeed like that, but it's just kinda hard for me to believe that it is actually Pallids on all images.

I am trying to learn so I can identify myself.

Thank you for your help, it is always much appreciated!

 

[kuzeycem]

They are all Pallids IMO, but only focusing on the eye-mask (or any single feature, really) makes IDs prone to error. See the paler head sides, large throat patches with diffuse borders, scaling concentrated on central belly, and broad head shape. Photo 2 shows the darker mantle while photo 5 shows the slightly paler greater coverts.

 

[raddev]

They are all Pallids IMO, but only focusing on the eye-mask (or any single feature, really) makes IDs prone to error. See the paler head sides, large throat patches with diffuse borders, scaling concentrated on central belly, and broad head shape. Photo 2 shows the darker mantle while photo 5 shows the slightly paler greater coverts.

Thank you @kuzeycem for all the details - that is really helpful!

 

[KenM]

Envy your shots raddev…excellent! 👍

Cheers

 

[dragnil]

Me too, great shots.