The pallid swift – usually found in locations further south-east such as north Africa and the Middle East – is a rare sight in Europe, but recent southerly winds have resulted in an influx of the species.
The most recent sighting n Jersey was at Victoria Tower on Tuesday.
Mick Dryden, chairman of the ornothology section of the Société Jersiaise, said: ‘They are a type of swift, but not the ones we usually see here in the summer. This is only the fourth pallid swift seen in Jersey. The third one we saw was a week or so ago, and Guernsey had one the day before our sighting on Tuesday, which we expect is probably the same one. Before that we have only had two other sightings of the bird in Jersey, and those were more than ten years ago – they turn up as a rarity here.
‘Pallid swifts don’t migrate in the way common swifts do in winter. They have been brought up by the weather conditions, as there has been a lot of strong southerly winds lately.’
Mr Dryden explained that pallid swifts were a very difficult bird to identify but usually appeared in November, long after common swifts had left in August.
‘The light in November isn’t very good at times, and you need to be able to see them well to distinguish them from common swifts. They show all the features of a swift, but their shape is very slightly different – pallid swifts’ wings are not quite as pointy, their bodies are a bit fatter and their head is a bit broader.
‘In good light you can see lots of mottling on the breast, which you don’t get with common swifts which are normally fairly plain.
‘As the name implies, pallid swifts are paler than a common swift – they are a mid-brown colour, whereas common swifts are dark brown and can look black.’
