Aerodramus vanikorensis
Silhouette: Aviceda (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The uniform swiftlet (Aerodramus vanikorensis), also known as the Vanikoro swiftlet or lowland swiftlet, is a gregarious, medium-sized swiftlet with a shallowly forked tail. The colouring is dark grey-brown, darker on the upperparts with somewhat paler underparts, especially on chin and throat. This species is widespread from the Philippines through Wallacea, New Guinea and Melanesia. It forages for flying insects primarily in lowland forests and open areas. It nests in caves where it uses its sense of echolocation, rare in birds, to navigate.
The uniform swift was formally described in 1832 by the French naturalists Jean Quoy and Joseph Gaimard from a specimen collected on the island of Vanikoro in the Solomon Islands. They coined the binomial name Hirundo vanikorensis. This swiftlet is now placed in the genus Aerodramus that was introduced in 1906 by Harry C. Oberholser. Wikipedia →
Flight call0:08
Solomon Islands · 2015
© Frank Lambert · XC290255 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Tangkoko Nature Reserve | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Makassar | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Uniform Swiftlet sighting in Raja Ampat on a given day, based on 371 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 33rd most-seen of the 200 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August and November
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Uniform Swiftlet in Raja Ampat on a given day, against about 10% in April and December–January, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Uniform Swiftlet sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Yes
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Uniform Swiftlet sightings, Raja Ampat has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Tangkoko Nature Reserve (Indonesia, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Uniform Swiftlet is recorded against all the birds logged in Raja Ampat (371 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.
