Apus affinis
Silhouette: Mathieu Pélissié · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The little swift (Apus affinis) is a small species of swift found in Africa and southwestern Asia, and are vagrants and local breeders in southern Europe. They are found both in urban areas and at rocky cliffs where they build nests in a way typical of all members of the order Apodiformes. The genus name Apus is Latin for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of swallow without feet (from Ancient Greek α, a, "without", and πούς, pous, "foot"). The Latin specific affinis means similar to or related to, but in this case the species that the little swift supposedly resembles is not clear from the description. A population formerly considered to be an eastern subspecies of little swift is now separated as a distinct species, the house swift (Apus nipalensis).
Little swifts are readily identified by their small size. Their wingspan is only 33 cm compared to 42 cm in the case of common swift. Their plumage is black except for a white throat and rump, the white rump patch extending onto the flanks. They have a short square tail, with all rectrices round-tipped. The flight is fluttering like that of a house martin, and the call is a high twittering. Like other swifts... Wikipedia →
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Little Swift sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 346 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 54th most-seen of the 196 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Little Swift in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in April–June and August, the lowest months. That is one of Cape Town's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 140 mm in June.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Little Swift sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
66th of 98
Of the 98 cities where we can rate Little Swift sightings, Cape Town ranks 66th at about 10%. The best odds are in Abuja (Nigeria, about 70%), Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo, about 60%) and Marrakesh (Morocco, about 60%).
Same genus: Apus
The closest relatives of the Little Swift that you can see in Cape Town (genus Apus, Typical Swifts) are African Swift (about 10%) 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 Little Swift is recorded against all the birds logged in Cape Town (346 verified sightings), 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.
