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Between 15.20 & 15.25 today, John Berggy
watched 20 "swiftlets" hawking with 6 White-throated Needletails at Nelson in
S.W. Victoria. Half the size of the Needletails, and with similar shaped
wings, they were dark all over with a white rump. The tail
was not forked like Collocalia vanikorensis (his words,
-- he lived in PNG for ten years, i.e. Uniform Swiftlet) but stumpy, more
like esculenta (Glossy). However they lacked the pale belly of
that species. He had rejected the possibility of House Swift because the
Ozzie fieldguides show a "blazing" white throat not possessed by his birds. I
advised that several House Swifts seen in Australia, including one seen so well
and so closely it was photographed, have not shown white throats. Whether
this is appearance or actual plumage I'm not sure. I think he saw House Swifts,
a bird rarely reported and with no accepted records in Victoria. They
disappeared in a S.W. direction. A remarkable occurrence.
Mike
Carter
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