Schoutedenapus myoptilus
Silhouette: Aviceda (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The scarce swift (Schoutedenapus myoptilus) is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It has a disjunct range of presence throughout the Afromontane : Cameroon line, Albertine Rift montane forests, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique.
It is the only species in the genus Schoutedenapus. Schouteden's swift (Schoutedenapus schoutedeni) was previously considered a distinct species, but was found to be a darker juvenile or sub-adult scarce swift subspecies chapini.
Scarce swift - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 3 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | Volcanoes National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 7 | Aberdare National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 8 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 9 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 10 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 11 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Scarce Swift sighting in Arusha National Park on a given day, based on 55 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 164th most-seen of the 373 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Scarce Swift in Arusha National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May–August and December, the lowest months. That is one of Arusha National Park's wettest months, with about 440 mm of rain against 65 mm in September.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Scarce Swift sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 11 parks where we can rate Scarce Swift sightings, Arusha National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Nyungwe National Park (Rwanda, about 10%) and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Uganda, under 5%).
Same family: Apodidae
The closest relatives of the Scarce Swift that you can see in Arusha National Park (family Apodidae, Swifts) are African Palm-Swift (about 20%), Little Swift (about 20%) and White-rumped Swift (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Scarce Swift is recorded against all the birds logged in Arusha National Park (55 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
