Apus caffer
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The white-rumped swift (Apus caffer) is a species of swift. Although this small bird is superficially similar to a house martin, it is not closely related to that passerine species. The resemblances between the swallows and swifts are due to convergent evolution reflecting similar life styles.
This 14–15.5 cm (5.5–6.1 in) long species has, like some relatives, a short forked tail and long swept-back wings that resemble a crescent or a boomerang. It is entirely dark except for a pale throat patch and a narrow white rump. It is similar to the closely related little swift, but is slimmer, darker and has a more forked tail and a narrower white rump.
This is a quiet species compared to little swift, but a twittering trill is sometimes given. Like other swifts they have very short legs that they use only for clinging to vertical surfaces. They never settle voluntarily on the ground, and spend most of their lives in the air, feeding on insects that they catch in their beaks. Like other swifts they drink on the wing.
The habitat of this species is dictated by that of its hosts, and is therefore normally man-made structures such as bridges... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Freetown | 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone | |
| 4 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 5 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 9 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 10 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-rumped Swift sighting in Ruaha National Park on a given day, based on 25 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 145th most-seen of the 276 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a White-rumped Swift in Ruaha National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July and October–November, the lowest months. That is one of Ruaha National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 180 mm in January.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-rumped Swift sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
19th of 45
Of the 45 parks where we can rate White-rumped Swift sightings, Ruaha National Park ranks 19th at about 10%. The best odds are in De Hoop Nature Reserve (South Africa, about 40%), Queen Elizabeth National Park (Uganda, about 30%) and Serengeti National Park (Tanzania, about 20%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Apus
The closest relatives of the White-rumped Swift that you can see in Ruaha National Park (genus Apus, Typical Swifts) are Little Swift (about 20%) and Common 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 Swift is recorded against all the birds logged in Ruaha National Park (25 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.
