CAVE SWALLOWS IN NEW BRUNSWICK AND NEWFOUNDLAND
At least 13 CAVE SWALLOWS have occurred in NE North America in the past
week giving rise to the possibility that individuals may make further landfall
in Europe, perhaps in Ireland or Britain.
Brian Small has provided an excellent summary of identification criteria
highlighting the differences between American Cliff Swallow and American Cave
Swallow (see below)
Cave vs Cliff
Cave vs Cliff Swallow
Just to aid those that might be out there searching for that Cave Swallow, below is a list of features to look for, plus some links to photos of the two species.
Cave Swallow has a number of different populations, so I will stick to that which is likely to appear in UK, ie that which occurs in Texas and New Mexico pallida (the differences between this and other populations is relatively slight and largely revolves around the extent and strength of rufous). Cliff Swallow also has various subspecies, but the most widespread and northerly is pyrrhonata. The area you will need to concentrate on most is the head.
Cave Swallow is slighty smaller (but this is unlikely to help much with a lone vagrant), the paler rufous or orange throat and cheeks, extending onto the hindneck as a collar, contrast with the dark cap and ‘mask’ – on young birds the orange colour can be a dirty cream or buff; the forehead is also rufous and more extensive than Cliff.
http://www.schmoker.org/BirdPics/Photos/Swallows/CASW2.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/ngannet/cave_swallow
Cliff Swallow has the ear coverts often deep chestnut (adults) or dark brown (flecked) on young birds, and the throat is also darker (though sometimes a little paler), thereby contrasting less with the dark crown, forming a ‘hooded’ effect. The hindneck is greyer and on adults the forehead patch is white, whilst on first-autumn birds it is pale off-white or creamy.
http://www.schmoker.org/BirdPics/CLSW.html
http://www.bobsteelephoto.com/Species/clsw.html
http://www.pbase.com/gtepke/cliff_swallow - great shots of an adult in flight
http://www.pbase.com/dancinec/cliff_swallow - a young bird
Possible hybrid CavexCliff http://www.pbase.com/sloughbirder/cavelike_swallow
Cave Swallows often appear in NE America in mid November as they vacate the breeding areas late, so this is the prime time for possible vagrants in Europe.
A good article by Julian Hough, ‘Identification of Cliff Swallow and Cave Swallow’, is in Birding World 13: 368-374.
Just to aid those that might be out there searching for that Cave Swallow, below is a list of features to look for, plus some links to photos of the two species.
Cave Swallow has a number of different populations, so I will stick to that which is likely to appear in UK, ie that which occurs in Texas and New Mexico pallida (the differences between this and other populations is relatively slight and largely revolves around the extent and strength of rufous). Cliff Swallow also has various subspecies, but the most widespread and northerly is pyrrhonata. The area you will need to concentrate on most is the head.
Cave Swallow is slighty smaller (but this is unlikely to help much with a lone vagrant), the paler rufous or orange throat and cheeks, extending onto the hindneck as a collar, contrast with the dark cap and ‘mask’ – on young birds the orange colour can be a dirty cream or buff; the forehead is also rufous and more extensive than Cliff.
http://www.schmoker.org/BirdPics/Photos/Swallows/CASW2.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/ngannet/cave_swallow
Cliff Swallow has the ear coverts often deep chestnut (adults) or dark brown (flecked) on young birds, and the throat is also darker (though sometimes a little paler), thereby contrasting less with the dark crown, forming a ‘hooded’ effect. The hindneck is greyer and on adults the forehead patch is white, whilst on first-autumn birds it is pale off-white or creamy.
http://www.schmoker.org/BirdPics/CLSW.html
http://www.bobsteelephoto.com/Species/clsw.html
http://www.pbase.com/gtepke/cliff_swallow - great shots of an adult in flight
http://www.pbase.com/dancinec/cliff_swallow - a young bird
Possible hybrid CavexCliff http://www.pbase.com/sloughbirder/cavelike_swallow
Cave Swallows often appear in NE America in mid November as they vacate the breeding areas late, so this is the prime time for possible vagrants in Europe.
A good article by Julian Hough, ‘Identification of Cliff Swallow and Cave Swallow’, is in Birding World 13: 368-374.