Schoutedenapus myoptilus
Silhouette: Aviceda (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
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 Kidepo Valley National Park on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 222nd most-seen of the 332 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and December–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Scarce Swift in Kidepo Valley National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February and June–November, the lowest months. Those are among Kidepo Valley National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 130 mm in July. April and May have too few records to rate.
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.
4th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate Scarce Swift sightings, Kidepo Valley National Park ranks 4th 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 Kidepo Valley National Park (family Apodidae, Swifts) are African Palm-Swift (about 50%), White-rumped Swift (about 10%) and African 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 Kidepo Valley National Park (15 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.
