Apalis thoracica
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The bar-throated apalis (Apalis thoracica) is a small African passerine bird belonging to the genus Apalis of the family Cisticolidae. It is native to the eastern and southern Afrotropics. It inhabits forest and scrub in Southern and East Africa from southern and eastern parts of South Africa north as far as the Chyulu Hills in Kenya. In the northern part of is range it is found only in highland areas where there are a number of subspecies restricted to isolated mountain ranges. Some of these may be treated as separate species including the Namuli apalis (A. lynesi) in Mozambique, yellow-throated apalis (A. flavigularis) of Malawi and Taita apalis (A. fascigularis) in Kenya.
The bar-throated apalis is a slender bird with a long tail and is 11 to 13 cm in length. The plumage varies depending on the subspecies: the upper parts can be grey or green while the underparts are white or pale yellow. All forms have a narrow black band across the breast, white outer tail-feathers and a pale eye. The black bill is fairly long and slender and is slightly curved. Females are similar to males but have a narrower breast band. Juveniles have buffer underparts... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 6 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 8 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 9 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 10 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 11 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 12 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 13 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 14 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 2 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Bar-throated Apalis sighting in Addo Elephant National Park on a given day, based on 301 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 19th most-seen of the 243 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and October
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Bar-throated Apalis in Addo Elephant National Park on a given day, against about 20% in April, the lowest month.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bar-throated Apalis sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 14
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Bar-throated Apalis sightings, Addo Elephant National Park ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in De Hoop Nature Reserve (South Africa, about 50%) and Garden Route National Park (South Africa, about 50%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bar-throated Apalis is recorded against all the birds logged in Addo Elephant National Park (301 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.
