Chaetura fumosa
Silhouette: Aviceda (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The Costa Rican swift (Chaetura fumosa) is a species of bird in subfamily Apodinae of the swift family Apodidae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. During much of the 20th century the Costa Rican swift was treated as a subspecies of the band-rumped swift (C. spinicaudus). Before that time it was placed in genus Acanthylis with several other swifts that are now classified in genus Chaetura. The Costa Rican swift is monotypic.
The Costa Rican swift is about 11 cm (4.3 in) long. The sexes are alike. Their head is dusky. Their upperparts are mostly sooty black with a blue gloss and a pale grayish rump and dull black uppertail coverts. Their throat and breast are pale grayish.
The Costa Rican swift is found from southwestern Costa Rica east into western Panama's Chiriquí Province. The International Ornithological Committee places it in Colombia as well, but the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society has no records from that country. It occurs over several forest types, semi-open areas, pastures, and agricultural fields. In elevation it mostly occurs below 900 m (3,000... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Marino Ballena National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Costa Rican Swift sighting in Marino Ballena National Park on a given day, based on 140 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 103rd most-seen of the 303 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.
May
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Costa Rican Swift in Marino Ballena National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, June–August and October, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Costa Rican Swift sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Costa Rican Swift sightings, Marino Ballena National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Piedras Blancas National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%), Corcovado National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%) and Carara National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Costa Rican Swift is recorded against all the birds logged in Marino Ballena National Park (140 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.
