Band-rumped Swift

Band-rumped Swift

Chaetura spinicaudus

Silhouette: Aviceda (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Panama City

In 3 days <5%

33 Verified sightings at Panama City
2,907 In all 10 parks From 2019 to 2026
January Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Band-rumped Swift

The band-rumped swift (Chaetura spinicaudus) is a species of bird in subfamily Apodinae of the swift family Apodidae. It is found from Panama south through Colombia into Ecuador, east from Venezuela into the Guianas and Brazil, and on Trinidad.

The band-rumped swift, pale-rumped swift (C. egregia), grey-rumped swift (C. cinereiventris), and Lesser Antillean swift (C. martinica) were at one time placed in genus Acanthylis. During much of the 20th century the Costa Rican swift (C. fumosa) was treated as a subspecies of the band-rumped. Other subspecies have been proposed but not accepted.

The band-rumped swift is 10.5 to 12.6 cm (4.1 to 5.0 in) long and weighs 13.8 to 18.5 g (0.49 to 0.65 oz). It has a protruding head, a short square tail, and wings that bulge in the middle and somewhat hook at the end. The sexes are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have black-brown upperparts with a white band on the rump. Their underparts are dark with a slightly paler throat. Juveniles have white tips on some wing feathers... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Flight call1:01

French Guiana · 2010

© Alexandre Renaudier · XC64024 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5

Call0:30

Brazil · 2018

© Dante Buzzetti · XC613875 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:34

Venezuela · 2006

© Nathan Pieplow · XC11647 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Brownsberg Nature Park 🇸🇷 Suriname
~40%
2 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~20%
3 Utría National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~10%
4 Darién National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
5 San Lorenzo Protected Forest 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
6 Anavilhanas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
7 Chagres National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
8 Tayrona National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
9 Caroni Swamp 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
<5%
10 Parque Natural Metropolitano 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Panama City 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Band-rumped Swift in Panama City?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Band-rumped Swift sighting in Panama City on a given day, based on 33 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 252nd most-seen of the 363 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Band-rumped Swift in Panama City?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Band-rumped Swift in Panama City on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Band-rumped Swift?

Between 2 and 5 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Band-rumped Swift sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Where else can you see a Band-rumped Swift?

Only Panama City, in our data

Panama City is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Band-rumped Swift sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Where does the Band-rumped Swift sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Band-rumped Swift is recorded against all the birds logged in Panama City (33 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.

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