Hi Graham and Birding-aussers,
Me too Graham, I also see these birds in flocks
of predominently Needletails, their flight also appears different: straighter
and slower with more regular wing beats.
I am only sure I have a Fork-tail when they open
their tail and (usually) go into a fast flutter mode.
Bruce Cox.
Giday Birders,
as
hinted at by Evan there was a flock of fork-tailed swifts over Lapstone last
night (Lapstone is in the lower Blue Mountains, about 60km west of the Sydney
CBD). My best count was 17 but felt there were more birds that I could
not see. The birds seemed to be feeding and headed off slowly to the south,
which is why Evan missed seeing them.
Also there was an odd bird amongst them, similar
in size and shape to a fork-tail, but no matter how long I watched it, it
would not fork its tail (the others did this quite regularly). My guess is
that it was just a fork-tail but with maybe some outer tail feathers missing.
Any thoughts on this?
Cheers
Graham Turner