Appendix 9-2014
POSSIBLE MELANISTIC
NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW 2014
John E Black
A uniformly dark Northern Rough-winged Swallow was present near the Coast Guard Station during some of the May 2013 Port Weller Count. It was observed building a nest in the exhaust port of the vessel Cape Storm. It was suggested that the bird was dark due to its contact with material in the exhaust port, not melanistic, but this could not be established with certainty. (See Appendix 9 May 2013 Kayo J Roy).
On May 25, 2014 Katherine Stoltz and I observed an extremely dark Northern Rough-winged Swallow entering the exhaust port of the Cape Storm. At the time the Coast Guard engineer on the site (Corey Oulton) informed me that he had seen swallows entering the exhaust portsince close to the start of May.
On May 31, 2014 I observed and photographed a dark swallow from 0730 hours until 1015 hours.
During that time period the bird made at least 15 trips into the exhaust port carrying grass or similar nesting material. Typical grass lengths about ½ the length of the bird. While the dark bird was collecting nesting material a Rough-winged Swallow with normal plumage sat on a warning sign about 5 meters from the exhaust port.
May 16, 2014 Cape Storm. The small white warning sign above the orange bins at the lower right of the photograph is where the Northern Rough-winged Swallow with normal plumage perched. (Photo Edith Bacon)
May 31, 2014 The Northern Rough-winged Swallow that hadnormalplumage. (JEB)
On a number of occasions the dark and normal birds would fly together in search ofinsects. One such flight took about 15 minutes and was from 0755 to 0810. A second long flight took place from 0830 to 0845. At other times one of the two birds would make a short flight (less than a minute) in search of insects. After 0900 I did not observe the dark bird carrying nesting material but did see it enter the exhaust port on several occasions afterflights with the normal bird. At no time did I observe the light coloured bird enter the exhaust port!
The coast guard vessel is started daily at 1000 hours and taken out into the canal. At 1000 hours May 31 the coast guard vessel was started and the exhaust flushed. Grass-like material which looked like the sorts of material the dark bird had been carrying was flushed out of the exhaust port.
May 31, 2014.Note the grass-like material in the water behind the stern of the boat.(JEB)
On May 31 the two birds were not present when the boat was started. They returned just as it left the dock and perched together on the warning sign. This is the first time I observed the dark bird perched on the sign on this date.
May 31, 2014. The swallows at 1015 hours just after the vessel left the dock. (JEB)
May 31, 2014. The normal plumaged swallow at 1015 hours after the vessel left the dock. (JEB)
May 31, 2014. The black swallow on warning sign at 1015 after the vessel left the dock. (JEB)
May 31, 2014.The black swallow at 0930 below cedar trees. (Jean Hampson)
There is no way of knowing if the 2014swallow is the same bird observed nest building in 2013. Certainly the bird is considerably darker on the body than the 2013 bird (See photos below). This suggests strongly that the unusual coloring of this bird, and of the 2013 bird, is not melanistic but a result of contact with material in the exhaust pipe. We might expect the same coloring each year if it were melanistic. The coast guard crew member Jessie Read informed me that swallows have attempted to nest in the exhaust port for the five summers he has been at the Port Weller Station.
May 2013. (Kayo Roy)
May 31,2014. (JEB)