Zoonavena sylvatica
Silhouette: Aviceda (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The white-rumped spinetail or white-rumped needletail (Zoonavena sylvatica) is a species of swift found in the forests of Bangladesh, India (the Western Ghats) and Nepal. It is often seen over waterbodies in the middle of forest. It can resemble a house swift but has a white vent.
The white-rumped spinetail is insectivorous. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 2 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 8 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thrissur | 🇮🇳 India |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-rumped Needletail sighting in Mudumalai National Park on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 199th most-seen of the 233 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and July–August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-rumped Needletail in Mudumalai National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June and September–April, the lowest months. Those are among Mudumalai National Park's wettest months, with about 200 mm of rain a month against 10 mm in February.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-rumped Needletail sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate White-rumped Needletail sightings, Mudumalai National Park ranks 6th at under 5%. The best odds are in Royal Bardia National Park (Nepal, about 10%), Periyar National Park (India, about 10%) and Nagarhole National Park (India, under 5%).
Same family: Apodidae
The closest relatives of the White-rumped Needletail that you can see in Mudumalai National Park (family Apodidae, Swifts) are Indian Swiftlet (about 30%), Little Swift (about 20%) and Asian Palm-Swift (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-rumped Needletail is recorded against all the birds logged in Mudumalai National Park (16 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.
