Cypsiurus balasiensis
Silhouette: Aviceda (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The Asian palm swift (Cypsiurus balasiensis) is a small swift. It is very similar to the African palm swift, Cypsiurus parvus, and was formerly considered to be the same species. It is a common resident breeder in tropical Asia from India to the Philippines. The down and feather nest is glued to the underside of a palm leaf with saliva, which is also used to secure the usually two or three eggs. This is a bird of open country and cultivation, which is strongly associated with oil palms.
This 13 cm long species is mainly pale brown in colour. It has long swept-back wings that resemble a crescent or a boomerang. The body is slender, and the tail is long and deeply forked, although it is usually held closed. The call is a loud shrill scream.
Sexes are similar, and young birds differ from adults mainly in their shorter tails. Asian palm swift has very short legs which it uses only for clinging to vertical surfaces, since swifts never settle voluntarily on the ground.
These swifts spend most of their lives in the air, living on the insects they catch in their beaks. Asian palm swifts often feed near the ground, and they drink on the wing. Compilers: Stuart... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tamluk | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Vasai-Virar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Hajipur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Hanoi | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 5 | Yangon | 🇲🇲 Myanmar | |
| 6 | Savar | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 7 | Dhaka | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 8 | Salem | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Tiruchirappalli | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Bangkok | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report an Asian Palm-Swift sighting in Chennai on a given day, based on 2,801 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 21st most-seen of the 223 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and June–October
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Asian Palm-Swift in Chennai on a given day, against about 30% in February–May and November–December, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Asian Palm-Swift sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
18th of 56
Of the 56 cities where we can rate Asian Palm-Swift sightings, Chennai ranks 18th at about 30%. The best odds are in Tamluk (India, about 80%), Vasai-Virar (India, about 70%) and Hajipur (India, about 70%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Asian Palm-Swift is recorded against all the birds logged in Chennai (2,801 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.
