Aerodramus maximus
Silhouette: Aviceda (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The black-nest swiftlet (Aerodramus maximus) is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
Its saliva is one of the main sources of edible nests for bird's nest soup. Wikipedia →
Song0:31
Malaysia · 2001
© Arnold Meijer · XC35626 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gunung Leuser National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Tanjung Puting National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 4 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 5 | Sepilok | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 6 | Danum Valley Conservation Area | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yogyakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Kuching | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 3 | Jakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-nest Swiftlet sighting in Gunung Leuser National Park on a given day, based on 31 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 50th most-seen of the 166 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Black-nest Swiftlet in Gunung Leuser National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–March, August and October, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-nest Swiftlet sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Black-nest Swiftlet sightings, Gunung Leuser National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Tanjung Puting National Park (Indonesia, about 10%) and Taman Negara National Park (Malaysia, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-nest Swiftlet is recorded against all the birds logged in Gunung Leuser National Park (31 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.
