This Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon
phyrrhonota) was photographed by Martin Reid at
Benbrook Lake, Tarrant County, Texas on October 20, 2002. It is
a County late record by three days, and was with a large group
of Barn Swallows (plus at least eight late-ish Tree Swallows were
among them.)
The bird was resting for long periods only 40 yards away, and
I obtained excellent views through my telescope; the forehead
patch and part of the chin had recently started to molt, such
that some scruffy paler feathers were evident, but it was very
noticable that the forehead color was deep rufous/chestnut,
similar in color and tone to the richest part of the chestnut-red
throat. It flew close by several times, revealing a rich cinnamon
rump that was darker than I'm used-to on "normal" Cliff
Swallows; closer to, but not quite as dark as, adult Cave Swallow.
Judging size is difficult on a lone Petrochelidon swallow,
but compared to the numerous Barn Swallows it appeared to be a
bit smaller than normal Cliffs look next to Barns. The flight
feathers and wing coverts looked worn and faded brownish, and
in all regards it appeared to be an adult just commencing its
pre-basic molt. NOTE: the lighter patch sometimes visible
in the center of the forehead is due to molting feathers catching
the light at certain angles (also on chin); the unmolted forehead
feathers surrounding this lighter patch are rich dark red:
From the literature I have available (much of which is contradictory
regarding subspecific names,) this bird has all the characters
of a "Southwest Cliff Swallow" P. p. melanogaster/minima/swainsoni
(subspecies names relate to "Swallows and Martins"
by Turner and Rose, "Bird Life of Texas" by Oberholser,
and "Birds of Mexico" by Howell, respectively.) Oberholser
mentions five specimens from Jeff Davis and Brewster Counties
in west Texas, while the 1995 TOS Checklist states that minima
is a summer resident along the Rio Grande from Brewster to El
Paso. It would seem that this is the first documented record of
this form east of the Pecos, but I'd like to get more data on
extralimital records of the red-fronted form(s?) of Cliff Swallow.
Note, in the un-cropped image below, the starting point for the
images when taken by hand-holding my camera to the eyepiece of
my telescope on high magnification:
There is another form of Cliff Swallow found in Texas that does
not have a white forehead: P. p. tachina - but its forehead
is much lighter than the red-fronted subspecies, ranging from
pale buff to orangey-cinnamon; the bird below is probably tachina;
I photographed it at Lake Worth on August 28, 2001 while trying
to sort out a molting Cave Swallow perched nearby, thus I did
not pay a great deal of attention to the Cliff, but the forehead
was paler than the throat (unlike the latest bird, above):
