Apus affinis
Silhouette: Mathieu Pélissié · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The little swift (Apus affinis) is a small species of swift found in Africa and southwestern Asia, and are vagrants and local breeders in southern Europe. They are found both in urban areas and at rocky cliffs where they build nests in a way typical of all members of the order Apodiformes. The genus name Apus is Latin for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of swallow without feet (from Ancient Greek α, a, "without", and πούς, pous, "foot"). The Latin specific affinis means similar to or related to, but in this case the species that the little swift supposedly resembles is not clear from the description. A population formerly considered to be an eastern subspecies of little swift is now separated as a distinct species, the house swift (Apus nipalensis).
Little swifts are readily identified by their small size. Their wingspan is only 33 cm compared to 42 cm in the case of common swift. Their plumage is black except for a white throat and rump, the white rump patch extending onto the flanks. They have a short square tail, with all rectrices round-tipped. The flight is fluttering like that of a house martin, and the call is a high twittering. Like other swifts... Wikipedia →
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Little Swift sighting in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 308 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 101st most-seen of the 223 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December to March
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Little Swift in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April to November, the lowest months. Those are among Table Mountain National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against 110 mm in June.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Little 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.
62nd of 74
Of the 74 parks where we can rate Little Swift sightings, Table Mountain National Park ranks 62nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Minneriya National Park (Sri Lanka, about 50%), Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 50%) and Kruger National Park (South Africa, about 40%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Little Swift is recorded against all the birds logged in Table Mountain National Park (308 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.
