First Record for the Cave Swallow (Petrochelidon Fulva) in Alabama and Summary of Subsequent Records

Published in 1988

On 22 April 1984, while birding Fort Morgan at the tip of the Morgan Peninsula, I discovered a swallow feeding in a mixed flock of swifts and swallows in the trench surrounding the historical fort. Closer inspection of what I assumed to be a Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) revealed a light buffy unmarked throat and a dark cinnamon forehead. The bird, in fact, was a Cave Swallow (Petrochelidon fulva), the first ever discovered in Alabama. After studying the bird for several minutes, I left it to find Dwight Cooley, with whom I was birding that day, but found that he was temporarily in another part of the park. After locating him, we returned to the trench approximately thirty minutes later and had no problem relocating the swallow.


Author: D. Mark Brown
Volume Number: 35 Year Published: 1988
Issue Number: 2-3
Page Number: 20

Link to article: http://birdlife.aosbirds.org/1988/Vol 35 No. 2 ,3_1988_p20-21.pdf
Link to the full issue of BirdLife: http://birdlife.aosbirds.org/1988/Vol 35 No. 2 ,3_1988.pdf