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Nominate race a long distance migrant, while 3 more S races mainly resident or short-distance migrants; race cooki thought to be resident, but has occurred in winter in Malay Peninsula; kanoi has occurred in winter in Philippines and Malaysia; leuconyx may be diseprsive resident, recorded throughout Indian Subcontinent. Nominate form winters in Indonesia, Melanesia and Australia, where common Oct-Apr; recorded Cape York Peninsula, N Australia, with Hirundapus caudacatutus in Jul, presumably non-breeding birds. Arrives in Japan from late Mar, most arriving in Honshu mid-Apr and Hokkaido early May. First arrivals in far E Siberia from late Apr to early May, appearing en masse in NE Mongolia late May to early Jun. Leaves Yakutia in mid-Aug, E Mongolia Aug, L Baikal late Aug, Japan from late Sept with migration through Oct and early Nov. Regular passage migrant in Java, though relatively few migrant records from Borneo and Sumatra. Recorded across Wallacea, rarely as winter visitor but mainly as passage migrant: Sulawesi Sept-Oct and Jan-Mar, Halmahera late Sept and early Apr, Buru late Nov and early Dec, Flores mid-Aug to mid-Apr, Timor Sept-Nov and Mar, and Aru Is early Apr. Migrates through Malay Peninsula mid-Sept to mid-Nov and late May, recorded Talaud early Oct and S New Guinea mid-Oct to late Dec. Large numbers migrate through Riau Archipelago, in Strait of Malacca, late Apr. Often seen with Hirundapus species on passage. First mainland record in Cochinchina as recently as 1996, and probably under-recorded on passage throughout Indochina. Recently recorded in mid- winter in S Sumatra, where largest migrant group c. 220 moving S through Serkap early Oct. Vagrant within Russia W to Urals, to Britain Jun 1981 and May 1993, to Alaskan islands at least 10 times, Jun-Sept, and to Macquarie I in S Tasman Sea.   (del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J (eds), 1999)

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