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Home , Cave swallow, Chilean swallow, Common house martin, Mangrove swallow, Petrochelidon, Stelgidopteryx

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INTRODUCTION ternwith a one-laneunsurfaced road on top, PaulW. Sykes, Jr. TheSpace Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival makeup thewetland part of thefacility (Fig- USGSPatuxent Wildlife Research Center was held at Titusville, Brevard County, ures1 and2). Theimpoundments comprise a Floridaon 13-17 November2002. During total of 57 hectares(140 acres),are kept WarnellSchool of ForestResources thebirding competition on thelast day of the floodedmuch of the time,and presen]an festival,the CanadianTeam reported seeing openexpanse of shallowwater in an other- severaldistant at BrevardCountyõ wisexeric landscape. Patches of emergent TheUniversity ofGeorgia SouthCentral Regional Wastewater Treat- freshwatervegetation form mosaicsacross ment Facility known as Viera Wetlands. openwater within each impoundment and in Athens,Georgia 30602-2152 They thought these were either Cliff theshallows along the dikes. A fewtrees and (Petrochelidonpyrrhonota) or Cave(P fulva) aquaticshrubs are scattered across these wet- (eraall:[email protected]) Swallows. lands. Followinghis participationat the festival, At about 0830 E5I on the 18th, Gardler Gardler looked for the swallows on 18 stoppedon the southmostdike of Cell 1 LynS. Atherton November. The man-made Viera Wetlands (Figure2) to observeswallows foraging low arewell knownfor waders,waterfowl, rap- over the water and flyinginto the strong 1100Pinelias Bayway, I-3 tors, shorebirds,and open-countrypasser- north-to-northwestwind. Ihe groupcon- ines. The facilityis locatedin southernBre- sistedof Iree (Tachycinetabicolor), Northern TierraVerde, 33715 vard County(28 ø 17' N, 80ø 46' W) at the Rough-winged( serripennis), westend of WickhamRoad (County Road and CaveSwallows. Among this collection (eraall:[email protected]) 509), and about6.4 km north of LakeWash- of swallowswas one with a white rump ingtonin the formerlyextensive freshwater patch,dark upperparts with a greenishcast, marshsystem of theSt. Johns River. This wet- andwhitish underparts. It did not havethe MurrayGardler land is surroundedby pastures,sod farms, facialpattern or whiteflank patches of a Vio- citrusgroves, and row-crops. Five impound- let-greenSwallow (T. thalassina).Reference 9400 MerriweatherDrive mencs(cells), surrounded by a low dikesys- materialsat the site were limited, and obser-

Brooksville,Florida 34613 (email:[email protected])

JohnH. Hintermister,V

2522 NW 156thAvenue

Gainesville,Florida 32609 (email:[email protected])

Figure1. Typical habitat at Viera Wetlands, Brevard County, Florida. Photograph byBrooks H.Atherton.

4 NORTH AMERICAN vations were terminated about 1000 EST. Severalmembers of theFlorida birding com- munitywere immediatdy contacted, and the newsquickly spread. By19 November, most observers had con- cludedthat the was probably a ( albifinea), but its iden- tificationwas not certain. The Mangrove Swallowof Middle America,White-winged Swallow (T. albiventer)of northern and cen- tral SouthAmerica, Iumbes Swallow (T. stolz- mannOof the northwesterncoast of (a splitfrom the basedupon differences in color and pattern,morphometrics, nest construction, vocalizations,and distribution [Robbins et al 1997] and treatedas a full speciesin recent literature [Clements2000, Ridgely and Greenfield2001, Clementsand Shany2001, Dickinson2003]), White-rumpedSwallow (T. leucorrhoa)of southeasternSouth Amer- ica, (T. leucopyga)of south- ernSouth America, and the widespread Com- mon House-Martin( urNca) of the Old Worldare similar in appearance,all haw Figure2. Aerialview of Viera Wetlands atthe Rrevard County South Central Regional Wastewater ing prominentwhite rump patches (Turner TreatmentFacility. The Mangrove Swallow was most often seen in the southern part of Cell andRose 1989; see ranges in Figure3). We Numbers1 and 2, locatedinthe lower right and left of this map, respectively. werequickly able to eliminatefour of thesix •hotographicmapcourtesy of•revard Count• South Central Regional Wastewater Treatment FacJli•. speciesbased on colorof the upperparts and/orlack of whitesupraloral streak, leawng 38 MangroveSwallows (31 adults,7 •mma- Rough-wingedSwallow, up to 12 CaveSwal- onlythe Mangrove and the White-rumped in tures [HY]; 22 males, 16 females)and 24 lows(with palerumps and underparts; pre- contention. White-rumpedSwallows (21 adults,3 irama- sumedto be oneof theMexican ), Ihe VieraWetlands bird, an adultin fresh tures[HYI; 14 males,10 females).The spec- and 5+ Barn Swallows(HiTundo rustlea). The plumage(hatch year [HY] birds have drab imensexamined represent a broad temporal majorityof theobservations were of thebird gray-brownupperparts rather than the glossy andgeogtraphic spread for the two . Of in flight,although on severaloccasions it was greenof theadults), was present through 25 thespecfinens, 45 werecollected in fall (15 perchedat a distanceof approximately50 m November,during which time it wasseen by Augustthrough 15 December),23 Mangrove at heightsof 1 to 3 m abovethe water surface manyobservers. How long the bird had actu- and22 White-rumped(austral spring for the on dead shrubs and short dead stubs. On 20 allybeen present is unknown.Photographs latter).A smallsample of TreeSwallow spec- November,the swallowwas photographed of the swallow were taken on 18 and 20 imens was also examined at the GMNH. perchednear the topof a deadtree at a dis- November. From 19 November onward, a Selectedspecimens were photographed for tanceof approximately 60m and at a heightof numberof photographswere posted on web- comparisonand to show some of therange in 14 m. It wasseen in directcomparison with sitesand attached to emailsaccompanied by variationof certainfeatures within a species. Cave Swallowsat leastonce, but most of the muchdiscussion as to the correctidentity of Mass and selected linear measurements were timeit wasseen in closecomparison (often this swallow. takenfrom published sources on fivespecies within a meter)with TreeSwallows, flying andused to developa tablefor comparison. into the wind as the birdsaerial-foraged for METHODS Additional linear measurements were taken .Observations of the flyingbird were Thedescription we present is based upon our fromspecimen material on loan.More meas- made from the dikes w•th 10x binoculars, notestaken in the field, commentsof others urementswere, upon request, received from sometimesas close as 4 m, butgenerally at 10 who alsostudied the swallow,and photo- theAcademy of NaturalSciences of Philadel- m orgreater under good lighting conditions of graphsof the bird taken at the site. To clarify phia(ANSP; Matt Sharp,pers. comm.), the clearto partlycloudy skies, mild tempera- a numberof questionsnot available from the LosAngeles County Museum (LACM; Kim- tures,and winds from the north-northwestof literature,on websites,or in publishedpho- ball Garrett,pets. comm.), and the NMNH 5-18k.p.h. Thebird often foraged just above tographsand illustrations, a series of speci- (RogerClapp, pets. comm.). Sharp, Garrett, the water surfacenear the dike, providing mens was obtained on short-term loan from and Clappalso provided comments about unobstructedviews of theentire upperparts in the AmericanMuseum of Natural History plumagesof specimens. directsunlight, as well as sideand frontal (AMNH; n=20), theField Museum of Natural views.In foraging,it flewupwind a distance History(FMNH; n=21), the Museumof VIEWINGCONDITIONS andthen circled back. Ihese flights ranged in ComparativeZoology (MCZ; n=13) at Har- Ihe Viera Wetlandsswallow was generally estimatedheights above water from 15 cmto vard,and the U.S. NationalMuseum of Nat- seenin thesouthern portton of Cell 1 (13.7 12m. Whenperched, it wasstudied with 20- ural History(NMNH; n=8), all temporarily hectaresor 33.8acres) and Cell 2, andflying 60xzoom scopes and through the talephoto housedat the GeorgiaMuseum of Natural overthe pastureto the southof thesetwo lensof cameras.The bird woulddisappear History(GMNH) at theUniversity of Geor- areas. Otherswallows present in the area fromview for long pertods and then suddenly gia,Athens. Specimens on loanconsisted of were 20+ Iree Swallows, one Northern reappear.

VOLUME 58 (2004) - NUMBER 1 5 Table1. Comparisonofbody mass and selected linear measurements ofadults offive species ofswallows asa general guide tosize 1

Species(mean/sample size/range, exceptfor total length) 2

TreeSwallow Mangrove White-rumped Violet-green CaveSwallow Swallow Swallow Swallow Parameters2 (T.bicolor) (T.dbiline•) (T.leucorrho•) (T.•hd•ssin•) (œe•rochelidonfulv•) Sources

Mass(g)3 Both 20.1/82/15.6-25.4a 15.0/18/14-16.5b 9.0/-/17.0-21.0a 20.4/25/18.4-22.3a Male 14.4/16/13.0-16.3a aDunning1984 Female 13.9/15/12.5-15.2a bB.Stutchbury pers.comm.

TotalLength cm(inches) 13(5) 11(4.25) 13(5) 12-13(4.75-5) 12(4.75) Tumer&Rose 1989

WingLength 4 (ram) Male 119.3/61/114-125a 97.3/58/90-105 b 115.7/22/105-122 b 113.9/84/-c 112.3/640/-d aRobertsonetal. 1992 Female 115.3/99/110-121a 95.1/36/90-100 b 114.4/14/108-123b 107.9/37/-c 111.9/823/--d bThispaper; from museumskins CBrownetal. 1992 dWest1995

TailLength 5 54.2/--/48-60a 37.6/38/32-41b 46.9/38/40_55b 49.4/_/45_55a 44.5/_/42_48a aTumer& Rose1989 (ram) bThispaper; from museumskins

DepthofTail 6 8.7/-/7-12a 4.5/71/2-9b 5.0/32/2-7b 8.4/-/5-10a aTurner& Rose 1989 Fork(mm) bThispaper; from museumskins

WidthofRump 7 17.4/47/10-23 16.3/32/8-22 Thispaper; from Patch(mm) museumskins Tipof Tail to Posterior 28.9/40/23-36 35.7/32/28-42 Thispaper; from Edgeof Rump museumskins Patch(ram)

1Treatmentisat the species leveland some samples presented mayconsist ofone or more subspecies. 2Samplesizeswere not given forsome parameters insources used. 3Bodymasshas been shown tobe the single mostaccurate univariate measureof size in birds (Rising andSomers 1989),including structural framework andnutrient reserves(Clark 1979, Pierstoa and Davidson 1991). 4Flattenedwingchord. 5Measuredfromemergence ofthe shafts tothe tip of the longest pairof rectrices. 6Measuredfromapex ofthe fork asa perpendicular toa straight line connecting thetips of the longest tworectrices. 7Avery imprecise measurement; takenatmidpoint ofthe rump patch andmeasured fromthedistal tothe proximal edges.

6 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS DESCRIPTIONOF THE SWALLOW AT VIERAWETLANDS Viera Wetlands ß Age. Adult(AHY). ß Sex. Unkuown. at right) ß Size. Directcomparison in flightshowed the VieraWetlands swallow to be noticeably smaller than Tree and Cave Swallows. It had Tampa••elbourne a smallerbody, shorter overall length, shorter k-•t_•Miami broaderwiugs, and shorter tail than the Tree Swallows,and the body appeared chuuky or Mangrove barrel-chested,similar to that of Cave and Swallow Cliff Swallows. The smaller size of the Man- groveSwallow iu comparisonwith four other White-winged speciescorresponds with measurement data Swallow (Table1) andcan be seen iu thephotographs of specimens(Figures 4 and5). As previ- ouslymentioned, the wings of theViera Wet- Tumbes land bird were shorter than those of the and Cave Swallows. We were able to make / thiswing-leugth comparison repeatedly over theperiod the bird was present in thearea, andthis short wing leugth was also noted by manyothers. The mean wing leugth (Table _ / l) for theMaugrove Swallow is 18%shorter than that of the Tree Swallow,16.5ø/0 shorter White- thanthat of theWhite-rumped Swallow, and 14% shorter than that of the . Chilean rumped Thus, the differencescan be detectedunder Swallow Swallow fieldconditions when the Mangrove and Tree (verticallines) (horizontallines) Swallowsare observedtogether at relatively closerange, as was the case at Viera Wetlands. Winglengths of migratorybirds iu general tend to be longerand morepointed than thoseof birdsthat are nonmigratory(Gill 1990)_Of thefive species listed in Table1, oxftythe Mangrove Swallow tends to benon- migratory,with theexception of somepost- breedingmovements (Howell and Webb 1995, Stilesand Skutch 1989, Turnerand Rose1989). Figure4 dearlyshows the dif- ferenceiu wing leugthbetween Maugrove Figure3. The range ofthe Mangrove Swallow isshown indark gray shading ( northward), andits acddtmtal occur- andTree and White-rumped Swallows. renceon the east-central coast ofFlorida bya blackstar. The range of Tumbes Swallow isshown inblack shading, theWhite- ß Flight.The flight was different from that of wingedSwallow inlight gray shading, theWhite-rumped Swallow byhorizontal lines, and the Chilean Swallow byvertical Tree Swallows in that it seemed to be lines.Range ofthe Mangrove Swallow isderived from Howell and Webb (199S), Ridgely and Gwynne (1989), and Stiles and Slmtch(1989); Tumbes Swallow from Ridgely and Tudor (1989) and Ridgely and Greenfield (2001); and White-rumped, White- "labored,"with more rapid shallowwing- winged,and Chilean Swallows from Ridgely and Tudor (1989). Map by Vir!#nia Maynard. beats,and less gliding under identical condi- tions(flying in samedirection into the wind). Tyler(1942) and Robertson etal. (1992)state tiuctivewhite configuration on thehead (see rumppatch contrastiug with the dark upper- that the TreeSwallow tends to glidemore Turnerand Rose 1989). However,some spec- partsand dark tail. The patchwas rather thanmauy other species of swallow imensof bothMaugrove and White-rumped long,extendlug from the trafiing edge of the ß Bill. Small,short, and dark. Swallows that we examined did not have the extendedwings distally to, and iududing, ß Eye. Dark;located well withiuthe dark whitepatch extendiug across the base of the someof theuppertaft coverts. There was no plumageon side of thehead. forehead. This character showed no correla- darkdividiug midline on thepatch as in the ß Head. Thecrown and nape were iridescent tionwith sex or ageand appears to beattrib- Violet-greenSwallow. In thefield, the patch (glossy)green, and the auricularregion was utable to individual variation. A white nuchal appearedtobe entirely white. Most museum black. It shouldbe noted that all greenareas stripeor incompletecollar extended pan way specimensshowed a number of verynarrow, of theplumage on this bird, both on the head up thebase of theneck. These features are palegrayish or duskycentral shaft streaks and dorsally,had a bluishcomponent but shownin Figures6, 7, 8, 9, and10. withiuthe white patch, but thesecannot be were dominatedby green.The loreswere ß Backregion. The middle and upper back readilyseen on a flyingbird under field con- black. A verythin white hne extended from wereiridescent green, as seen in Figures6, 7, ditioxzs.Figures 13 and 1'• of museumspeci- thetop of theeye forward to thesmall white 8, 11, and12. Theupperparts of theMan- mens show that these shaft streaks are not patchon theforehead at thebase of thebill. groveSwallow are iridescentgreen, while readilyvisible even at closerange and were This supraloralstreak became wider as it thoseof theWhite-rumped Swallow are iri- much less obvious on some individuals. The joinedthe forehead patch. Oxfty the Mangrove descentblue. The most obvious feature of the dxstaland proximal edges of therump patch andWh•te-rumped Swallows have this dis- swallowat VieraWetlands was its large white on thespecimens were slightly irregular (not

VOLUME 58 (2004) NUMBER 1 7 straightlines). This was pro- ducedon the proximaledge bythe extension of thetips of a fe,• dark back feathers into the patch (Figures13 and 14). With the distaledge, someof the whiteuppertail coverts in a number of the specimenswe examinedhad ., iridescentgreen or brown subterminalspots that pro- duced a lace-like pattern (Figure16a). About60ø6 of theadult specimens had such spots,but whenpresent, the prominenceof thespots var- ied widelyamong individu- Figure4. Fromleft to dght: comparison ofspedmens of als. This character is also falladult Tree, Mangrove, and While-rumped Swallows. presenton somejuveniles. Notethe differences inbody and wing lengths, coloration These spotscan barelybe ofthe upperparts, while borden to the lertials, and whiterumps of the Mangrove and White-rumped Swat Figure5. Spedmens,leftto fight by pain: Tree, Mangrove, andWhite-rumped seenin Figures6 and 15 of lows.While the length and shape of the spedmens may SwaNows.The juveniles are on the left of each pair and adults on the rigM. The the Viera Wetlands bird and varydepending upon how well they have been prepared, juvenileMangrove Swallow has a traceof green iridescence onthe back. The way areshown in detailon speci- thespedmens were selected toreflect true relative sizes thespedmens were prepared accounts forthe apparent differences inlength mensin Figures14 and 16a. ofthe three spedes. Photograph byLyn S. Atherton. andshape of the Mangrove pair. Photograph hyLyn S. Atherton Suchspots are verydifficult to seein the fieldexcept at closerange with goodlight angle. Some White-rumped Swal- lowshave brownish "blurred smudges" scat- teredacross the rump patch (Figure 16b) thai havea completelydifferent appearance from theprominent spots of MangroveSwallow. ß Wings. The primariesand secondaries weredull black. The upperwingsecondary covertswere iridescent green and the upper primarycoverts black. The leadingedge of Figure10. Specimens ofMangrove Swallows (left three) and White-rumped Swallows (right three) showing the thewings showed some fine, irregular white- variationofthe white suprulorul streak and the white farehead between and within species, and the white underpartsofboth species. Photogrul• byLyn S. Atherton. and-darkmottling (Figure 9). The under- winglinings were white (Figure 17). Theter- hencemore obvious on the outerwebs (Fig- thewhite tertial margins of thetwo species is rialswere dark with greeniridescence and ure 13). Therewere some white edgings to shown on specimensin Figure 12 The had veryprominent white marginson both several secondaries outboard of the tertials broaderwhite edges to thetertials of theMan- sides(Figures 6, 8, 11, and 15). In the fall (Figure15). In theaustral spring specimens groveSwallow are a goodfield mark when in specimensof MangroveSwallow, this white of theWhite-rumped Swallow, the whiteon freshplumage in summerand fall and readily marginextends up bothsides 30 to 50% of thetertials is generallynarrower and extends separateit from the White-rumped Swallow. the individualfeather length from the tip. < 30%of the individualfeather length from ß Tail. The tail was short and black with a The whitemargin tended to be widerand the tip (Figure18); this alsoholds true for veryshallow fork (Figures 6 and19). Mostof austral fall birds. On a few the time,the tail appearedsquare-tipped in specimens,the white bor- the field. In the Man- derwas only at thetip or grove Swallow,the absent Comparisonof mean tail length is 30% shorter than in the Tree Swallow and 20% shorter than in Figure6. Adult Mangrove Swallow inflight over Cell I at VieraWet- the White-rumped lands,Brevard County, Florida, on Swallow (Table 1). 20 November2002. The bird was in ß Underparts. The freshplumage. Visible in this pho- underpartsappeared tographare the white forehead, uniformlywhite from darkside of the head, incomplete the chin to and whitenuthal cdlar, green upper- Figure8. AdultMangrove Swallow pa•ts,black remiges, prominent at Cell1, VieraWetlands, Brevard Figure9. Adult Mangrove Swallow includingthe under- whilemargins of thetertials and County,Florida, on 20 November at Cell1, Viera Wetlands, &evard tail coverts(Figures adjacentinner secondaries, conspic- Figure 7.Adult Mangrove Swallow atCell 1, 2002.The white supralaral streak, County,florida, on 20 November 8, 17, and 20). Most uouswhite rump patch, with dark VieraWetlands, B•evard County, Florida, on forehead,underparts, tertial 2002.Apparent are the mottling on Mangrovespecimens spotson the proximal edge, and 20November 2002, with the white supralo- borden,rump patch, and green theleading edge of the wings and showa varyingdegree shortblacktail with a sligMnotch. ratsh'eak and white forehead patch as seen upperpartsare visible on the bird. thewhite forehead and underparts. of pale grayishwash PhotographbyLyn S. Atherton. inflight. Photographby JohnPuschock. PhotographbyLyn S. Atherton. PhotographbyJohn Puschock. acrossthe breast,but

8 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS Wetlands was originally thoughtby someto be this species)sometimes appears to havea whiterump (How- ell and Webb 1995), but Vio- let-greenSwallow lacks the supraloralstreak, is a larger bird,has upperparts of a dif- ferentcolor green, and has a completelydifferent head pattern. The rangeof the MangroveSwallow is much closerto Floridathan any otherspecies of swallowof similarappearance, and the weatherconditions preced- ing thediscovery were favor- Figure12. Fall specimens showing the green upperparts and prominent white ter- ablefor the speciesto reach tialmargins ofMangrove Swallows (left three), and blue upperparts and white ter- Florida. tialtips of White-rumped Swallows (right three). Photo9raph byLyn $. Atherton. Figure11. Perched adult Mangrove Swallow atCell 1, Viera The MangroveSwallow is Wetlands,Brevard County, Florida, on 20 November 2002. Thegreen upperparts and white rump and underparts are primarilycoastal and is resi- shown.Photograph byMary C Wheeler. dent along both coastsof , from centralSonora this is not visible under field conditions. As and southernTamaulipas, withthe white rump patch, the scattered, very south to southern Panama finepale gray/dusky central shaft streaks on (Figure3). It is foundfrom thebreast and belly are not visible in thefield. sealevel to 600 m in Mexico " To the rear of the white neck collar was an fib andup to 1000 m elevation t ' J defineddark wedge extending onto the sides in (Howell and of the breast that became somewhat diffused Webb 1985, Stiles and distally(Figure 17 and20). Thismark was Skutch 1989, Turner and muchmore apparent on theWhite-rumped Rose 1989). While the Man- Swallowspecimens than on those of theMan- groveSwallow is considered groveSwallow. resident, some seasonal movements have been DISCUSSION reported(Howell and Webb Figure13. Prominentwhite tertial margins, dusky central shaft streaks on some of In summary,the combination of fieldmarks 1995, Turner and Rose theWhite rump patch feathers, and subterminal spots on some of the white upper separatingthe adult Mangrove Swallow from 1989). It is consideredto be tailcoverts ofthe Mangrove Swallow specimens. Photograph byLyn S.Atherton. allsimilar species with prominent white rump commonto fairly common patches,include: (1) smallsize, (2) glossy withinmuch of itsrange and greenhead and back, (3) whitesupraloral is usuallyfound in associa- ' streak, (4) black lores and auricular, (5) tion with water at coastal prominentwhite edges to thetertials in fresh lagoons,estuaries, salinas, , plumage,(6) shortblack tail with shallow sloughs,fresh and brackish notch,and (7) whiteunderparts. Tumbes marshes,wet pastures,river Swallowdoes not havea white supraloral courses,lakes, and, as its streak,is not knownto migrate,occurs in a commonname implies, in • veryarid habitat,and hasa veryrestricted mangroveareas. This swal- range.While the White-rumped Swallow has low usuallyforages close to a whitesupraloral streak, it isnoticeably larger the water surface or low over (length,wings, tail, etc.;see Table 1), has marshes and fields (Howell glossyblue rather than green upperparts, and and Webb 1995. Stiles and hasmuch less white on themargins of theter- Skutch 1989, Turner and rialsthroughout the year.The White-winged Rose 1989). Tumbes Swallow occurs Swallowdoes not have a supraloralstreak, the Figure14. Variation inamount of whitetertial margins and subterminal spots on on the northwestern coast of whiteedges of the tertialsare much broader whiteupper tail coverts inMangrove Swallow specimens. Note the dusky central andmore obvious than in theMangrove Swab Peruand adjacentEcuador, shaftstreaks inwhite rump patch of bird at left.Photograph byLyn $. Atherton. low, and the secondariesand secondary circa 1300 km south of the covertsshow broad white edges,hence the nearestknown breeding population of Man- consideredfairly common to commonnear Englishcommon name for thespecies. Both groveSwallow in southernPanama (Robbins waterin semi-openhabitats (Ridgely and Chilean Swallow and Common House-Martin etal.1997). White-rumped Swallow is found Tudor1989, Turner and Rose 1989). The dis- likewiselack a supraloralstreak, have blue in southernSouth America (Figure 3) andis tributionof theWhite-winged Swallow (Fig- upperparts,and havelonger, more deeply migratoryin the southernpart of its range. ure 3) is the northern two-thirdsof South forked tails (Turner and Rose 1989). Violet- We could find no records north of central Americaeast of theAndes Mountains (except greenSwallow (the Mangrove Swallow at Viera Brazil,well south of the AmazonRiver. It is in northern Colombia and northwestern

VOLUME 58 (2004) NUMBER I 9 Venezuela) south into northern We believethe MangroveSwallow, Argentinaand southern Brazil. It is which was found on the east-central a fairlycommon to commonand is coast of Florida in the latter half of migratoryin the extremesouthern November2002, was present in Florida part of its range. It hasa strong as a direct result of one or more of these association with rivers and lakes weathersystems. Also, these systems (Ridgelyand Tudor 1989, Turner Figure15. Adult Man•'ove were probablyresponsible for the and Rose1989). Swallowpreening at Cell1, Viera unprecedentedincursion of CaveSwal- The Mangrove Swallow was Wetlands,Brevard County, lows over much of easternNorth Amer- amongthose species predicted to Florida,on 20 November2002. ica duringthe samegeneral period occur in the southwestern United Thegreen crown, white margins (Brinkleyand Lehman 2003). States(Jones 1998) and in ofthe tertials, white of theinner This is the first record of the Man- secondaries,andlarge white (kasleyand Lockwood1999), but rumppatch are deafly visible. grove Swallowfor Florida and the not in Florida(Pranty 1999). We PhotographbyLyn 5. Atherton. UnitedStates. It hasbeen accepted by Figure17. View of the underside ofadult Man- predictthat this species has a high the Florida OrnithologicalSociety groveSwallow at Cell1, Viera Wetlands, Brevard cells that fol- probabilityofoccurring infrequently anywhere County,Florida, 20 November 2002. Visible are RecordsCommittee; vote 7/0, 18July alongthe /Mexicoborder and low more thewhite underparts, white wing linings, and 2003 (Reed Bowman and Fred E. around the northern rim of the Gulf of Mexico. southerly darkdiffuse wedge extending onto the side of Lohrer,pers. comm.). Weatherconditions preceding the discovery tracks than in thebreast. Note the vestigial tenth primary that istypical of Hirundinidae (Turner and Rose of the MangroveSwallow at VieraWetlands, most years. Acknowledgments formuch of themonth of November(Figure Often these 1989).Photograph byJohn Puschock. We wish to thank the staff of the Bre- 21), could have aided the bird in its eastward southernsystems are reinforcedby strong vardCounty South Central Regional Waste- movementacross the Gulf of Mexico, most polarair massesfrom central Canada, result- waterTreatment Facility for permitting access likely from the Yucatanregion or perhaps ing in heavywinds and rain along the frontal to theViera Wetlands complex to thebirding Caribbeanslope of CentralAmerica. During boundaries.Upper-atmosphere analysis SUly community.We acknowledgeRoger B. Clapp the period,three significant weather systems portsthe surfaceobservations, especially in (NMNH), Paul Sweet (AMNH), Jeremiah sweptthe Gulf Region under the influence of the 850-millibar(rob) level at roughly the E1 Nifio--Southern Oscillation. These 914-1523meters (3000-5000 feet), a range patternsare characterizedby Now-pressure oftenassociated with but prob- ablynot with that of swallows,which are diurnalmigrants that at muchlower elevations. On 5-6 November,a moderatelow formedin centralMexico and pushed a cold front northeastward across the Gulf ofMexico on the 6th (Figure 21a). Winds ahead of this front were 25+ knots from the southwest.On 11-13 November,a strongcold front swept the Gulf Coast, withvery cold high pressure penetrating deepinto the southern United States (Fig- ure 2lb). Strongsoutherly-to-southwest- erlywinds developed 9-11 November,as Figure18. Adult White-rumped Swallow specimens a deeptrough of the polarjet stream showingvariation in the white tips of the tertials and formed,reaching well into Texas. On variationinmarks (or lack thereof) inthe white romp 15-17 November.a moderatelow-pres- patch.Photograph byL yn $. Atherton. sure area formed over the Texas-Arkansas border and tracked eastward and south- wardunder the influence of a reinforcing coldfront (Figure 21c). Converging sys- temsbrought heavy rain and strong winds to the Gulf Coast and Florida Peninsula.

Figure20. AdultMangrove Swallow atCell 1, Viera Figure16. Detailed view of lower rump area of adult Mangrove Wetlands,Brevard County, Florida, on 18 November Figure19. Adult Mangrove Swallow preening atCell 1, Swallow(above) with dark subterminal spots of the white 2002.The dark upperparts, white rump, dark side of VieraWetlands, Brevard County, Flor'ida, on20 Novem- uppertail coverts, contrasted with smudge-like markings on thehead, white underparts, and dark wedge-shaped ber2002. Visible are the green upper parts, white tipsof feathers of whiterump area of adult White-rumped streakextending onto side of the breast are visible underpartsand black, somewhat square-tipped tail. Swallow(below). Photograph byLyn $. Atherton. inthis photograph. Photograph byLyn 5. Atherton. PhotographbyMary C. Wheeler.

10 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS Trimble(MCZ), and DavidE. Willard Princeton,New Jersey (FMNH) for providingTachycineta Dunning,John B., Jr. (ed.). 1993. CRC swallowspecimens on loan from their handbookq[ arianbody masses. CRC respectiveinstitutions and to Eliza- Press,Boca Raton, Florida. beth M. McGhee (GMNH) for receiv- Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A ing,housing, and returning the speci- Guideto thebirds q[ Mexico and north- menson loan_ We particularly express ernCentral America. Oxford University our appreciationto RogerB. Clapp, Press,New York. MatthewSharp, and Kimball L. Gar- Jones,R. 1998. Thenext new ABA birds: rett (LACM) for providingmeasure- southern Arizona and southwestern ments and salient comments on swal- New Mexico. Birding30: 484-491. lowspecimens aswell as replying to Lasley,G. W., and M. W. Lockwood. inquiriesabout certain characteristics i 0000 07Nov 1999. Ihe next new ABA birds: Texas. of thespecimens in question. • x 06 Nov• Birding31: 158-166. BrooksH. Athertonprovided the Piersma,I., and N. C. Davidson. 1991. 05Nov - 07Nov • warmfront materialfor the weather analysis and a 2002 ß cold Confusions of mass and size. Auk 108: photographof habitat. Debbie Coles 441-444. of the Brevard County Natural Figure21a Pramy,B. 1999.The next new ABA birds: ResourcesManagement Office; Lynda Florida and southeastern Gulf Coast. J. Garrett,Library, Patuxent Wildlife Birding31: 245-252. ResearchCenter, Laurel, Maryland; Ridgely,R. S., andJ. A. Gwynne.1989. A BridgetJ. Stutchbury,York University, Guideto thebirds q[ Panama with Costa Canada;Angela K. Turner,University Rica,, and . Second of Nottingham,United Kingdom; and edition. PrincetonUniversity Press, C. WesleyBiggs provided helpful Princeton,New Jersey. information.Thanks go to all who Ridgely,R. S.,and G. Tudor.1989. The postedcomments about and images of Birdsq[ SouthAmerica, Volume 1: The the Viera Wetland swallow on the var- OscinePasserines. University of Texas ious websites.Appreciation is ex- Press,Austin, Texas. tendedto John Puschock and Mary C. I•INov•2Nov ov13 Nov 13 Nov Ridgely, R. S.,and P J. Greenfield.2001. Wheeler for use of some of their series TheBirds q[ Ecuador.Cornell Univer- of photographsof the Viera Wetlands sityPress, Ithaca, New York. bird, and to SteveHolzman, Peter J. Rising,J. D., and K. M. Somers.1989. 1 ! Nov - 13 Nov Lasier,and Parley V. Winger for trying 2002 - ß coldfiont Themeasurements of overall body size sohard to improvethe senior author• in birds. Auk 106: 666-674. computerskills. This paper has bene- Figure21b Robbins,M. B., G. H. Rosenberg,E S. fitedfrom the helpfulcomments of Molina,and M. A.J•come. 1997. Tax- SteveN. G. Howelland PeterPyle. onomyand nest description of Tumbes Andwe thank Bonnie E Keplerfor typ- Swallow(Tachycineta [albilinea] stolz- ingthe draft manuscript. mannO. In: Studiesin Neotropical ornithologyhonoring Ted Parker, J. V. Literaturecited Reinsen,Jr., ed. OrnithologicalMono- Brinkley,E. S., and P E. Lehman. graphs48. 2003. Changing seasons: Robertson,R. J., B.J. Stutchbury,and R. unabashed bonanza. North Ameri- R. Cohen. 1992. Tree Swallow. In: The can Birds 57: 14-21. Birdsq[ NorthAmerica, No. ll (A. Brown,C. R., A.M. Knott, and E. J. Poole,P Stettenheim,and E Gill, eds.). Damrose.1992. Violet-green Swal- '0000 17Nov The Birds of , Inc., low. In: TheBirds q[ North America, 17 Nov Philadelphia. No. 14 (A. Poole, P Stettenheim, Stiles, G. E, and A. E Skutch. 1989. A and E Gill, eds.). The Birds of Guideto thebirds q[ CostaRica. Com- NorthAmerica, Inc., Philadelphia. 15Nov - 17 Nov • • warmfiont stock,Ithaca, New York. 2002 ß cold•'ont Clark,G. A. 1979.Body weights of Turner,A., and C. Rose. 1989. Swallows birds: a review. Condor81: 193-202. Figure21c andmartins: an identificationguide and Clemems,J.E 2000.Birds of the world: handbook.Houghton Mifflin, Boston. Figure21. It islikely that the appearance ofthe Mangrove Swallow in a checklist. Fifth edition. Ibis Pub- Floridawas facilitated byone or more of three significant November 2002 Tyler,W. M. 1942.Tree Swallows. Pp. lishingCompany, Vistia, California. weatherevents under the influenceof the ElNifio-Sunthern Oscillation, 348-400 in: Life historiesq[ North Clements,J. E, and N. Shany.2001. patternscharacterized bylow-pressure cellsthat follow more southerly Americanflycatchers, larks, swallows, A Fieldguide to thebirds q[ . tracksthan in normal years. The 5-6 November front (Figure 21a) consisted and their allies,A. C. Bent, ed. U.S. Ibis PublishingCompany, Temec- of a moderatelow that formedin centralMexico and crossed the Gulfof National Museum Bulletin 179. Mexicoto thenortheast on the 6th with southwesterly winds of 25 knots ula, California. West, S. 1995. Cave Swallow ( andgreater. The 11-13 November front (Figure 21b) swept the Gulf Coast Dickinson,E. C. (ed.). 2003. The withvery cold high pressure that penetrated deep into the southern United fulva).In: TheBirds q[ North America, Howardand Moore complete check- Statesand contained still stronger southwesterly winds. Finally, on 1 S-17 No. 141 (A. Poole and E Gill, eds.). listq[ birdsq[ theworld_ Third edi- November,a moderate low formed over the Texas-Arkansas border and The Birds of North America, Inc., tion. PrincetonUniversity Press, movedeast and south (Figure 21c). Afaps by Virginia Aiaynard. Philadelphia.•

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