A big movement of Fork-tailed Swifts over Cairns yesterday, with
several dozen feeding by the Barron R. and Centenary Park, and then
dozens more late pm at Smithfield, all of the latter birds heading
southwards.
Many were in moult, with very shabby worn and brownish wing feathers,
and quite a few had lost the pointed rectrices which make the tail
fork, giving a rather bullet-ended look with no discernible fork. The
tail would often appear quite ragged looking.
There is a major potential for confusion with House Swift A.
nipalensis here (Little Swift A. affinis in our books), but the tail
of the moulting Fork-tailed (Pacific) Swifts doesn't seem to be
neatly square or slightly notched like that species, and they appear
longer winged with a larger and more diffuse white throat.
Phil Gregory
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