Scarce Swift (Schoutedenapus myoptilus) | Details

Scarce Swift Schoutedenapus myoptilus

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note
Schouteden's Swift Schoutendapus schoutedeni is now considered to represent dark juvenile or subadult Scarce Swift S. myoptilus of subspecies S. m. chapini (Fishpool 2019). Based on this, Schouteden's Swift is no longer considered to be a valid species, and is incorporated into Scarce Swift.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2019. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 4. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v4_Dec19.zip.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2019	Least Concern
2016	Not Recognised
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	26 g

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	5,070,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	5.1 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is reported to vary considerably in status throughout its range (del Hoyo et al. 1999).

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor
Angola	extant	native	yes
Burundi	extant	native	yes
Cameroon	extant	native	yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native	yes
Equatorial Guinea	extant	native	yes
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Malawi	extant	native	yes
Mozambique	extant	native	yes
Rwanda	extant	native	yes
South Sudan	extant	native		yes
Sudan	extant	native	yes
Tanzania	extant	native	yes
Uganda	extant	native	yes
Zambia	extant	native	yes
Zimbabwe	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Angola	Mount Moco
Burundi	Bururi Forest Nature Reserve
Burundi	Kibira National Park
Cameroon	Mont Manengouba
Cameroon	Mount Cameroon and Mokoko-Onge
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	Forests west of Lake Edward
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	Itombwe Mountains
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	Kahuzi-Biega National Park
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	Mount Kabobo
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	Virunga National Park
Ethiopia	Ankober - Debre Sina escarpment
Ethiopia	Bale Mountains National Park
Ethiopia	Metu - Gore - Tepi forests
Kenya	Aberdare Mountains
Kenya	Cherangani Hills
Kenya	Kikuyu Escarpment forest
Kenya	Mau forest complex
Kenya	Mount Elgon (Kenya)
Kenya	Mount Kenya
Malawi	Misuku Hills Forest Reserves
Malawi	Mount Mulanje Forest Reserve
Malawi	Nyika National Park (Malawi)
Malawi	Uzumara Forest Reserve
Mozambique	Chimanimani Mountains (Mozambique)
Rwanda	Cyamudongo forest
Rwanda	Nyungwe National Park
Rwanda	Volcans National Park
South Sudan	Imatong mountains
Tanzania	Arusha National Park and vicinity
Tanzania	Livingstone Mountains forests
Tanzania	Mahali Mountain National Park
Tanzania	Mount Kilimanjaro
Tanzania	Mount Rungwe
Tanzania	Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Tanzania	Njombe forests
Tanzania	Rubeho Mountains
Tanzania	South Pare Mountains
Tanzania	Udzungwa Mountains
Tanzania	Udzungwa National Park
Tanzania	Ukaguru Mountains
Tanzania	Uluguru Mountains
Tanzania	Uvidunda Mountains
Tanzania	West Usambara Mountains
Uganda	Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Uganda	Echuya Forest Reserve
Uganda	Kibale National Park
Uganda	Kidepo Valley National Park
Uganda	Mount Elgon National Park
Uganda	Mount Moroto Forest Reserve
Uganda	Ruwenzori (Rwenzori) Mountains National Park
Zambia	Nyika National Park (Zambia)
Zimbabwe	Bvumba Highlands
Zimbabwe	Chimanimani Mountains (Zimbabwe)
Zimbabwe	Nyanga lowlands/Honde valley
Zimbabwe	Nyanga mountains

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	suitable	resident
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		major	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	resident
Altitude	500 - 2450 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Species factsheet: Scarce Swift Schoutedenapus myoptilus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/scarce-swift-schoutedenapus-myoptilus on 03/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 03/01/2025.