Bird Guide

Dusky Crag Martin vs Pale Crag Martin

Dusky Crag Martin (Ptyonoprogne concolor)

Dusky Crag Martin

Ptyonoprogne concolor

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The dusky crag martin is 13 cm (5 in) long with a broad body, wings and tail. It has sooty-brown upperparts and slightly paler underparts, with a streaked pale dull rufous chin, throat and foreneck. The tail is short and square, with small white patches near the tips of all but the central and outermost pairs of feathers. The underwing coverts are dark brown, the eyes are brown, the small bill is mainly black, and the legs are brownish-pink. The sexes are alike, but juveniles have rufous grey tips to the plumage of the upperparts and wings.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Dominic Best · CC0
Pale Crag Martin (Ptyonoprogne obsoleta)

Pale Crag Martin

Ptyonoprogne obsoleta

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The pale crag martin of the nominate subspecies P. o. obsoleta is 12–13 centimetres (4+1⁄2–5 inches) long with light brown upperparts, becoming paler on the lower back, and a short square tail that has small white patches near the tips of all but the central and outermost pairs of feathers. It has a pale grey throat, upper breast and underwing coverts, and the rest of the underparts are a dirty white. The eyes are brown, the small bill is mainly black, and the legs are brownish-pink. The wing length averages 13 cm (5 in) and the tail averages 4.8 cm (1+7⁄8 in).

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Dusky Crag Martin and Pale Crag Martin.