Schoutedenapus myoptilus
Silhouette: Aviceda (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The scarce swift (Schoutedenapus myoptilus) is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It has a disjunct range of presence throughout the Afromontane : Cameroon line, Albertine Rift montane forests, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique.
It is the only species in the genus Schoutedenapus. Schouteden's swift (Schoutedenapus schoutedeni) was previously considered a distinct species, but was found to be a darker juvenile or sub-adult scarce swift subspecies chapini.
Scarce swift - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 3 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | Volcanoes National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 7 | Aberdare National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 8 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 9 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 10 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 11 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Scarce Swift sighting in Kibale National Park on a given day, based on 30 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 234th most-seen of the 366 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Scarce Swift in Kibale National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Scarce Swift sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate Scarce Swift sightings, Kibale National Park ranks 8th at under 5%. The best odds are in Arusha National Park (Tanzania, about 10%), Nyungwe National Park (Rwanda, about 10%) and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Uganda, under 5%).
Same family: Apodidae
The closest relatives of the Scarce Swift that you can see in Kibale National Park (family Apodidae, Swifts) are White-rumped Swift (about 10%), Alpine Swift (about 10%) and Little Swift (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Scarce Swift is recorded against all the birds logged in Kibale National Park (30 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.
