Schoutedenapus myoptilus
Silhouette: Aviceda (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The scarce swift (Schoutedenapus myoptilus) is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It has a disjunct range of presence throughout the Afromontane : Cameroon line, Albertine Rift montane forests, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique.
It is the only species in the genus Schoutedenapus. Schouteden's swift (Schoutedenapus schoutedeni) was previously considered a distinct species, but was found to be a darker juvenile or sub-adult scarce swift subspecies chapini.
Scarce swift - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 3 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | Volcanoes National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 7 | Aberdare National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 8 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 9 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 10 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 11 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Scarce Swift sighting in Volcanoes National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 107th most-seen of the 156 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Scarce Swift in Volcanoes National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to June, the lowest months. That is one of Volcanoes National Park's driest months, with about 40 mm of rain against 250 mm in April.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Scarce 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.
6th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate Scarce Swift sightings, Volcanoes National Park ranks 6th at under 5%. The best odds are in Arusha National Park (Tanzania, about 10%), Nyungwe National Park (Rwanda, about 10%) and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Uganda, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Scarce Swift is recorded against all the birds logged in Volcanoes National Park (14 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.
