Apus leuconyx
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Blyth's swift (Apus leuconyx) is a small species of bird. It is superficially similar to a house martin, but completely unrelated to those passerine species, as swifts are in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between the groups are due to convergent evolution reflecting similar life styles.
The common name commemorates Edward Blyth (1810–1873), English zoologist and Curator of the Museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. The scientific name comes from the Greek απους, apous, meaning "without feet". A 2011 study has many taxonomists splitting this species from the fork-tailed swift complex.
Blyth's swifts are similar in size to common swift, and they are black except for a white rump. They can be distinguished from a partially leucistic common swift by the deeper tail fork, longer wings, bigger head and larger white throat patch.
Blyth's swifts breeds from the outer Himalayas through the Assam hills. This species is migratory, and winters in India and Sri Lanka. Blyth's swifts have very short legs which they use only for clinging to vertical surfaces. They never settle voluntarily on... Wikipedia →
Call0:18
Bhutan · 2005
© David Farrow · XC19674 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 2 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 3 | Eravikulam National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Blyth's Swift sighting in Langtang National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 181st most-seen of the 225 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blyth's Swift in Langtang National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June–July and September–April, the lowest months. Those are among Langtang National Park's wettest months, with about 220 mm of rain a month against 10 mm in November.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blyth's Swift sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Blyth's Swift sightings, Langtang National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Royal Manas National Park (Bhutan, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blyth's Swift is recorded against all the birds logged in Langtang National Park (9 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.
