Just returned from a wonderful week in the 'Wet Tropics' area of central
coastal Queensland (Townsville, Paluma, Ingham) and saw a number of new
birds (subject of another posting).
Aerial insectivores were difficult to identify and the bird books all
claimed it '...nearly impossible to identify in the field' the various
swiftlets, hence this email.
Over rainforest at Paluma (~60km north of Townsville, Qld.) I observed
Needletails and some sort of swiftlet/s each day. After much deliberation
with the bird books I thought the species were White-bellied Swiftlets,
based mainly on differing feeding behaviour (much tighter and more
acrobatic swooping) and shape (pale underbody, wing-base much broader).
Am keen to hear people's thoughts on the most likely species I would have
encountered.
Martin O'Brien
Melbourne
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