White-chinned Swift

White-chinned Swift

Cypseloides cryptus

Silhouette: vectorized by Rob Sparks · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at San José

In 3 days <5%

12 Verified sightings at San José
557 In all 10 parks From 2019 to 2026
May Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the White-chinned Swift

The white-chinned swift (Cypseloides cryptus) is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is found from Mexico south through most Central America countries into South America as far south as Peru and east as far as Suriname.

The white-chinned swift is monotypic. Some authors consider it and the white-fronted swift (Cypseloides storeri) to form a superspecies. Others consider it more closely related to the sooty swift (C. fumigatus) and Rothschild's swift (C. rothschildi) or that all three of them are a single species.

The white-chinned swift is about 15 cm (5.9 in) long and weighs about 35 g (1.2 oz). The sexes are alike. They have a dark brown crown and cheeks, a short white streak above the eye, a white chin, and a dark brown throat. Their back and rump are blackish brown and the wings and tail slightly darker. Their undersides are paler than the back and rump and the underside of the wing is paler than the upper side.

The white-chinned swift is widely but very patchily distributed. It has been confirmed to nest only in Costa Rica and at one location in northern Brazil. There are sight records in... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Flight call0:12

Suriname · 2005

© Otte Ottema · XC115531 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Call1:01

Ecuador · 2007

© Nick Athanas · XC12874 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Flight call0:04

Ecuador · 2024

© Manuel Sanchez-Nivicela · XC960679 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Bastimentos Island National Marine Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
2 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
3 Podocarpus National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
<5%
4 Tenorio Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
5 Volcán Barú National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
6 Rincón de la Vieja National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
7 Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
8 Manu National Park 🇵🇪 Peru
<5%
9 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
10 Arenal Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 San José 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a White-chinned Swift in San José?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-chinned Swift sighting in San José on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 309th most-seen of the 379 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 White-chinned Swift in San José?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-chinned Swift in San José on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a White-chinned Swift?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-chinned 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 White-chinned Swift?

Only San José, in our data

San José is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate White-chinned Swift sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Where does the White-chinned Swift sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the White-chinned Swift is recorded against all the birds logged in San José (12 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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