Cypsiurus gracilis
Silhouette: Aviceda (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The Malagasy palm swift (Cypsiurus gracilis) is a small swift in the family Apodidae. It is very similar to the African palm swift, Cypsiurus parvus, with which it was formerly considered conspecific. It was split based on differences in vocalizations and plumage coloration.
The Malagasy palm swift is native to Madagascar and Comoros. Wikipedia →
Flight call1:18
Madagascar · 2021
© Ken Behrens · XC624296 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ranomafana National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Mantadia National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 3 | Ankarafantsika National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 4 | Berenty Reserve | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antananarivo | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Malagasy Palm-Swift sighting in Ranomafana National Park on a given day, based on 407 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 19th most-seen of the 102 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Malagasy Palm-Swift in Ranomafana National Park on a given day, against about 20% in March, the lowest month. That is one of Ranomafana National Park's driest months, with about 120 mm of rain against 450 mm in January. January and June have too few records to rate.
Between 5 and 8 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Malagasy Palm-Swift sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Malagasy Palm-Swift sightings, Ranomafana National Park has the highest daily chance: about 50%. Next come Mantadia National Park (Madagascar, about 20%) and Ankarafantsika National Park (Madagascar, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Malagasy Palm-Swift is recorded against all the birds logged in Ranomafana National Park (407 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.
