Blythes Swift on Cocos

On Richard Baxter’s recent tour to Cocos (6-13 December) some ‘Fork-tailed Swifts’ were seen and photographed. Four of that taxonomic group were raised to specific status by Paul Leader in 2011 and those splits have now been accepted by the IOC. On the basis of five characters, it is my opinion that at least some of the birds we saw were Blythe’s Swift Apus leuconyx contra Pacific Swift A. pacificus, the common taxon occurring on mainland Australia. A submission to BARC is in preparation. It is interesting to note that according to Rasmusson & Anderton 2012 ‘Birds of South Asia’, in the area north of Cocos, only two of the Fork-tailed Swift complex are known to occur, Blythe’s and Salim Ali’s Swift, with no records of our Pacific Swift. This situation may be similar to the assumption made by David James and Ian McAllan in their recent Review of the Birds of Christmas Island in Australian Field Ornithology that Oriental-type Cuckoos occurring on Christmas Island are in fact Himalayan Cuckoos based on their more western distribution. Mike Carter, 03 9787 7136 30 Canadian Bay Road Mount Eliza, VIC 3930, Australia