WTNTs at Macquarie UNiversity – northern Sydney

Hi all

While I was doing my swim at Macquarie Uni outdoor pool this morning, I was also doing a bit of casual birding (mostly whilst I was gasping for breath at the end of each lap). At about 7:50, I was watching the Welcome Swallows and two Tree Martins feeding on something above the pool in a loose group. All of a sudden, a large group (70+) of White-throated Needletails came bursting over some nearby trees and straight through the middle of the group of smaller birds. Seeing a group of swifts in Sydney in February isn’t that odd, but the swifts then hung around for over well over 45 minutes (they were still in the area when I left the pool at 8:35), actively feeding a quite low down (treetop/roof height or just above). In my experience that is quite a long time. After the initial burst through, there seemed to be no specific interaction between the swifts and swallows.

It was a bright morning, but the swifts themselves looked very clean and freshly marked, as if they were in new plumage.

While I was plugging up and down the pool, I was pondering:

– Do WTNTs moult whilst in Australia, which would account for the very clean looking plumage or was it just the light?

– How good is their eyesight? Did they see whatever the swallows were feeding on a decided they’d like some of the action or they were following something else (or there was just a lot of whatever it was about)?

Any thoughts or input from experienced swift observers?

(Mike, the sighting will go in my annual sightings sheet as well)

Cheers

Tom Wilson