Cossypha semirufa
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
Rüppell's robin-chat (Cossypha semirufa) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae, that is native to the Afrotropics. It is named for the German naturalist Eduard Rüppell. It is a smaller version of the White-browed robin-chat, measuring 18 cm rather than 20 cm, with darker, blackish central tail feathers, and in some races a more constricted supercilium behind the eye.
It is native to Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Tanzania. It is found in subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, including Juniper and Podocarpus forest, and in subtropical or tropical moist shrubland and gardens.
There are three races: Cossypha semirufa semirufa Range: Eritrea, Ethiopia, south-eastern South Sudan and northern Kenya Cossypha semirufa donaldsoni Sharpe, 1895 Description: Rufous collar almost complete, upperparts darker than nominate
Range: south-eastern Ethiopia and adjacent Somalia Cossypha semirufa intercedens (Cabanis, 1878) Range: central to south-eastern Kenya and northern Tanzania Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Aberdare National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Bale Mountains National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 5 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 6 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 7 | Lake Manyara National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Addis Ababa | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 2 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Rüppell's Robin-Chat sighting in Aberdare National Park on a given day, based on 137 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 32nd most-seen of the 217 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Rüppell's Robin-Chat in Aberdare National Park on a given day, against about 10% in March and May, the lowest months. That is one of Aberdare National Park's wettest months, with about 200 mm of rain against 55 mm in February.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rüppell's Robin-Chat sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Rüppell's Robin-Chat sightings, Aberdare National Park ranks 3rd at about 30%. The best odds are in Arusha National Park (Tanzania, about 40%) and Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rüppell's Robin-Chat is recorded against all the birds logged in Aberdare National Park (137 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.
