December's scaly-plumaged bird was obviously a swift Apus, and most entrants (80%) identified it as a Common Swift A. apus; other suggestions were Pallid Swift A. pallidus (16%), Pacific Swift A. pacificus (3%) and White-rumped Swift A. caffer (1%). It was a juvenile Common Swift, photographed in Russia by G. D. Serov. The leaders (Stephen Foster, David McAdams and Richard Patient) all got it right
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