'tis the season for ... swallows?

["Philip Veerman" <>]

Hello Suzanne,

 

If it looks like a swallow and acts like a swallow, it is usually a swallow and in this case you are referring to it surely is. I don't know what you are quite meaning by is this my European brain thinking? but Canberra is not as high latitude as most of Europe.

 

Yes they are here all year and their abundance is only very slightly lower in winter than summer. Here is the text from the GBS Report. I do wonder why would someone try "the net" when such information is easily available from local books.

 

Philip

 

Welcome Swallow Hirundo neoxena

This appears to be a partial summer migrant to our area but the annual amplitude of abundance is small. From a low in July, rises to a September small peak, then declines during late spring before rising to a second, higher peak during summer and early autumn before declining again. The dip in numbers after arrival, during spring is typical of summer migrants as they pass over the suburbs, heading for more appropriate breeding areas, then return later. However in this case the dip is small, it occurred in most years though it was not entirely consistent as breeding areas are not far from the general range of GBS sites and these birds are very mobile. Long-term pattern is odd, were quite stable for the first 11 years, then very varied for six years before settling again. The peak in Year 13 was a widespread increase but a lot of this is due to high numbers at Site 248. In the suburbs they often nest under the canopy at petrol stations. Breeding records occur over an extended time with activities at nest from late August to nest with young in early May. Most breeding activity is from early October to end of December.
Graphs on page: 104, Rank: 40, Breeding Rank: 40, A = 0.22868, F = 37.22%, W = 49.4, R = 6.934%, G = 3.30.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Susanne Gardiner [
Sent: Tuesday, 12 July 2011 11:41 PM
To: canberra birds
Subject: [canberrabirds] 'tis the season for ... swallows?

Hi all

a couple of weeks ago I flushed about 6 swallows or something like that from one of the rafters in the Canberra city west car park (level 4 1/2) on one of those very cold and blustery evenings. They were so fast that I honestly couldn't tell, what it was, except they were light under and dark on top and had swallow like wings and flying pattern. (There are bats in the city west car park, too, but they look and fly differently)

Today 2 swallows (or something like that) were doing arials at the southern end of Ebden Street, Ainslie. They virtually dropped out of the sky from considerable hight and then leveled out just above the grass. This time I was driving and couldn't concentrate too much on identifying the birds, but they looked like swallows. 

Do we have swallows all year round in Canberra? Couldn't find anything conclusive on the net, yet, but would have thought that they migrate at least a little bit. Or is this my European brain thinking?

Sorry, I can't be more specific regarding an ID. 

Cheers, Susanne