zbird Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 Saw these birds flying around Anchorage AK yesterday. Could the second one be a cliff swallow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birding Boy Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 I think these are Violet-green Swallows 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seanbirds Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 12 minutes ago, Birding Boy said: I think these are Violet-green Swallows Agreed. No swifts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Leukering Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 (edited) The primaries of swifts account for MUCH more of the wing length relative to the secondaries than on swallows; as far as I know, on all species of swifts vs. all species of swallows. This provides an excellent feature for distinguishing the two groups. Note the proportions on your bird relative to those on a Vaux's Swift in pix below. Even more excellent is that the two groups have VERY different flight styles and flap cadences. Learn those! Edited July 2, 2021 by Tony Leukering fix mistake 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiscalus quiscula Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 Yep, violet-green swallows. Also note the white sides of rump in the second photo, which identify it as violet-green swallow. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zbird Posted July 3, 2021 Author Share Posted July 3, 2021 Ah, that's really helpful! Thanks! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floraphile Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 16 hours ago, Tony Leukering said: The primaries of swifts account for MUCH more of the wing length relative to the secondaries than on swallows; as far as I know, on all species of swifts vs. all species of swallows. This provides an excellent feature for distinguishing the two groups. Note the proportions on your bird relative to those on a Vaux's Swift in pix below. Even more excellent is that the two groups have VERY different flight styles and flap cadences. Learn those! Yes @Tony Leukering! This is very helpful!!! I, for one, appreciate spoonfeeding. ? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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