I posted the following observations on ntbirds a few days back and did not receive too much of a response.
Lightly edited copy: “we saw 2 (dusky) woodswallows in the company of a large flock of Masked birds. They had very contrasting whitish wings and entirely dark blackish body plus tail”….It was only when we checked Simpson & Day that we realised we might be onto something unusual. We saw the birds once more afterwards and they still looked the same, ie. not white-browed, black-faced or little, but looking like dusty!
“They appeared to be the same size as the masked, which were flying with them. We saw many little woodswallows all day, and minutes after sighting the higher flying flock of masked, and these birds were clearly different, with little to no contrast between body and wings. We only saw the birds in flight from underneath, so could not see a white streak on the leading edge of the wings. My question is: are there any previous records of Dusky in the NT ? Could the somewhat unusual weather pattern with sustained strong SE winds have something to do with it? The large flock was in exactly the same area/airspace as the one observed during the Fieldnats excursion on July 8. (namely where the Marakai track crosses the Adelaide river). Hope to hear re woodswallows. Does HANZAB have any records ?” Dominic Funnell was the second observer.
Considering that :
1. Woodswallows are nomadic
1. Woodswallows often form mixed flocks
2. The known ranges of masked and dusky woodswallows show considerable overlap.
Should the occasional sighting of dusky woodswallow in the Top End be much of a surprise?
Comments please
Cheers. Bas Hensen
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I recall Martin Schulz saying he’d seen Dusky Woodswallow in the Top End back in 1990. Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow 1/7 Songlark Street, Bakewell, NT 0832 043 8650 835
PhD candidate, SCU Vice-chair, Wildlife Tourism Australia Nominated for the Condé Nast international ecotourism award, 2004 by the renowned American website, Earthfoot. Wildlife Adviser, BBC¹s Deadly 60¹
Birds of Australia’s Top End and Quiet Snake Dreaming available on amazon.com A second edition of Fauna of Australia¹s Top End used by the University of NSW as a text for 12 years is now under preparation.
‘It gave me huge insight into the lives’ of Aboriginal Australians¹, Jonathon Franzen, American author, birder, conservationist (August, 2011) on Quiet Snake Dreaming.
http://www.denisegoodfellow.com
Lightly edited copy: “we saw 2 (dusky)
“They We only saw the birds in flight from My question is: are there any previous records of Dusky in the NT ? The large flock was in exactly the same
Considering that :
1. Woodswallows are nomadic
1. Woodswallows
2. The known ranges of masked and dusky woodswallows
Should the occasional sighting of dusky
Comments please
Cheers.
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Hi Bas,
Sounds interesting! According to HANZAB Niven McCrie had an ‘unconfirmed and undated’ sighting in the Barkly Tablelands in 1999. Unfortunately, your description is not sufficient to ID this bird confidently as a Dusky WS. So given this bird being an extreme vagrant in the Top End, I would be very skeptical. The light conditions are extremely important. E.g. sometime White-browed WS can appear fully dark with contrasting white underwings.
Cheers,
Nikolas