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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Pacific Swallow
Hirundo tahitica
Main features: Small (14cm); wing long; tail barely forked. Genders alike.
Adult: Upperparts metallic blue; forehead, throat, upper breast chestnut; lowerparts grey, never white.
Juvenile: Upperparts browner; less chestnut on throat and forehead.
Call: Described as high pitched tweet in alarm; otherwise a cheerful twittering.
In flight: Dusky underwings and white tail marks.
Similar birds:
House Swift (Apus nepalensis): Flies with rapid shallow flapping interspersed by gliding; wings longer, slender scimitar-shaped; lacks tail streamers.
Barn Swallow (H. rustica): Has a black breast band, whiter underparts. Also tail streamers, but not diagnostic because the Barn may lose its tail streamers during a moult.
Status in Singapore: Very common resident throughout the island including North and South offshore islands.
World distribution: South India across the continent to Japan and the Philippines, down Southeast Asia to New Guinea and Tahiti.
Classification: Family Hirundinidae. World 89 species, Singapore 5 species. |
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