Apus balstoni
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The Malagasy black swift (Apus balstoni) or Madagascar swift, is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is endemic to Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ranomafana National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Mantadia National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 3 | Berenty Reserve | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 4 | Ankarafantsika National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antananarivo | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Madagascar Swift sighting in Mantadia National Park on a given day, based on 30 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 75th most-seen of the 98 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August to November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Madagascar Swift in Mantadia National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May–July and December, the lowest months. Those are among Mantadia National Park's driest months, with about 75 mm of rain a month against 340 mm in January. January to April have too few records to rate.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Madagascar Swift sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
2nd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Madagascar Swift sightings, Mantadia National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Ranomafana National Park (Madagascar, about 20%).
Same family: Apodidae
The closest relatives of the Madagascar Swift that you can see in Mantadia National Park (family Apodidae, Swifts) are Malagasy Spinetail (about 40%) and Malagasy Palm-Swift (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Madagascar Swift is recorded against all the birds logged in Mantadia 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.
