Appearance:

Very similar to Common Swift, and often difficult to identify in the field. Seeing the birds against a darker background, as opposed to the sky, brings out some of the characters more clearly. Generally paler and more sandy brown than Common Swift. Differs further from C. Swift by: Rounder wing tip (outermost primary shorter than the next), slightly broader wings, broader and flatter head. White throat patch bigger and more prominent. The face seems paler, which brings out the dark eye-mask. Back slightly darker than upper part of wings. More contrast between outer and inner primaries. Underparts with more pronounced scaly pattern. Flight less acrobatic, with slightly slower wing-beats, more frequent gliding and much less twinkling turns.

Sound:

Similar to Common Swift, but usually very helpful for ID. Almost di-syllabic, with marked accent on second syllable which rapidly drops in pitch, "srrrree-aah". Common swift has a more even call, with accents on first part, without the sudden pitch-drop.

Contact call:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

CC

Sound recording:Creative Commons,www.xeno-canto.org,Carlos W.,http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Appearance:

Occurs in dark and pale morph. Plumage recalling gulls more than shearwaters (especially pale morph). Differs from shearwaters in white or pale head, compact body, short and heavy bill and broad wings. Flight pattern distinguishes it from gulls, and is similar to other tubenoses. Glides on stiff wings with occasional bursts of shallow and stiff wing-beats. Pale base of primaries visible at considerable distance in both dark and pale morph. Dark morph most common in high-arctic areas, pale morph most common in southern breeding range.

Sound:

Mostly heard on breeding ground. Coarse, harsh, staccato calls when courting or quarrelling.

Social interaction:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Sounds:Recorded by Stein Ø. Nilsen,http://www.xeno-canto.org ,CC license