I wonder if somebody realized that swallows are still here. Is it because they know more than us, when the winter is coming? Perhaps this flock of swallows last weekend around my pool was on the way from other countries southwards?
I had another sighting of some birds, not very pretty though, but incredible fast catching flies in a way bee-eater do it, however much faster. Always returning to the electric wire. Perhaps belonging to the large fly-catcher family?
it was very difficult to photograph them as they were so fast and shy. So the pics are with 900 mm zoom...
ApusApus wrote: ↑Wed Oct 17, 2018 11:40 am
They are House Sparrow's Max, it's something they do quite often, and Barn Swallows can be seen in Cyprus in every month of the year!
Shane
Very strange Shane, their size was nearly 2x of the many sparrows I have in the garden. Further the way they were catching insects was very different to sparrows, flying zig-zag and much much faster. While the sparrows in my garden, when after beetles, look very nonmobile by comparison. Further, I took the pics last weekend, when I have seen them first time this summer,(about 5 or 6 of them) but until today never again...
But then, YOU are the expert....
Sizing birds can be very difficult as there are a number of factors that affect our view of them but they are definitely House Sparrows. Here is one from my archives, taken down the harbour
House Sparrow Sample.jpg (62.5 KiB) Viewed 1964 times
ApusApus wrote: ↑Wed Oct 17, 2018 11:40 am
They are House Sparrow's Max, it's something they do quite often, and Barn Swallows can be seen in Cyprus in every month of the year!
Shane
I found a video on youtube with exactly the birds I have seen: Spanish Sparrows, which are larger and having bigger beaks than house sparrows.
In the more than 40 years I am coming to Cyprus I never recognized swallows in winter. Maybe there are some staying in large towns, I don't know, but in the countryside certainly not. (not in Polis area and not Armou/Minthis) No wonder many bird lovers mention the first sightings in springtime when they first arrive Feb/March. When I lived in North Italy there was one town at Lake Garda you could see them all winter though, even when there was sometimes a little snow on the ground and it was there much much colder than Cyprus in winter.
Sorry Max, both House Sparrows & Spanish Sparrows are the same size being 14-16cm in length & the bill size difference is miniscule & only features in some birds.
Your first 2 photos are female birds & to be honest it is virtually impossible to distinguish between these in the field so they could be either! Your last photo looks like an adult male in winter plumage, you can make out the dark bib appearing on the throat. To me this one looks like a House Sparrow for 2 reasons, firstly the bib is small & secondly, if it was a Spanish Sparrow you would see some hint of grey streaking on the breast & underparts. The clinching feature which cannot be distinguished from the photo is the colour of head crown, brown in Spanish Sparrow & grey in House!
