Accipiter rufiventris
Silhouette: Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The rufous-breasted sparrowhawk (Accipiter rufiventris), also known as the rufous-chested sparrowhawk and as the red-breasted sparrowhawk, is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
A small raptor, with a height of about 30 cm and wingspan of 72 cm, the rufous-breasted sparrowhawk is named for its distinctive rufous-coloured underparts, which can be seen both perching and in flight. It is dark grey slate-brown above, including the head, with a black bill and eyes that are yellow at all ages.
In flight, the bold bars on both its wings and tail are clearly visible. Juvenile plumage ranges from the rufous-color of adults to more white, but all have feathers with dark shaft streaks on their underside. It can be differentiated from the similar Ovambo sparrowhawk (Accipiter ovampensis) by its lack of a dark patch behind the eyes or white eyebrow.
The rufous-breasted sparrowhawk is in the family Accipitridae, and is a part of the genus Accipiter, which... Wikipedia →
Call0:07
South Africa · 2014
© Peter Boesman · XC279756 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bale Mountains National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 2 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Aberdare National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Volcanoes National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 5 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk sighting in Aberdare National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 138th most-seen of the 217 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.
April
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk in Aberdare National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May–August and October–March, 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 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 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 Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk sightings, Aberdare National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Bale Mountains National Park (Ethiopia, about 20%) and Table Mountain National Park (South Africa, about 10%).
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk that you can see in Aberdare National Park (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are Augur Buzzard (about 50%), Mountain Buzzard (about 30%) and African Harrier-Hawk (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk is recorded against all the birds logged in Aberdare 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.
