Telophorus cruentus
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The rosy-patched bushshrike (Rhodophoneus cruentus) is a species of bird in the family Malaconotidae. It is the only species placed in the genus Rhodophoneus. It is found in Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Tanzania. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
The rosy-patched bushshrike was formally described in 1828 as Lanius cruentus by the German naturalists Wilhelm Hemprich and Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg based on specimens collected at Arkiko near Massawa in Eritrea. The specific epithet is Latin meaning "bloody" or "stained with blood". It is now the only species placed in the genus Rhodophoneus which was introduced in 1871 by the German explorer and ornithologist Theodor von Heuglin to accommodate a single species, the rosy-patched bushshrike. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ῥοδον/rhodon meaning "rose" with φονευς/phoneus meaning "murderer".
Four subspecies are recognised: Rhodophoneus cruentus kordofanicus Sclater, WL & Mackworth-Praed, CW, 1918 – west-central Sudan Rhodophoneus cruentus cruentus (Hemprich, WF & Ehrenberg, CG, 1828) – northeastern Sudan, Eritrea, and northern Ethiopia
Rhodophoneus cruentus... Wikipedia →
Recording0:07
Tanzania · 2024
© blackdogto · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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Kenya · 2018
© Tuoichen · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 5 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 7 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 8 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rosy-patched Bushshrike sighting in Amboseli National Park on a given day, based on 111 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 130th most-seen of the 362 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Rosy-patched Bushshrike in Amboseli National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September, the lowest month. Those are among Amboseli National Park's wettest months, with about 180 mm of rain a month against 10 mm in July.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rosy-patched Bushshrike sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Rosy-patched Bushshrike sightings, Amboseli National Park ranks 7th at about 10%. The best odds are in Samburu National Reserve (Kenya, about 50%), Meru National Park (Kenya, about 40%) and Tsavo East National Park (Kenya, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Malaconotidae
The closest relatives of the Rosy-patched Bushshrike that you can see in Amboseli National Park (family Malaconotidae, Bushshrikes and Allies) are Slate-colored Boubou (about 20%), Brubru (about 10%) and Brown-crowned Tchagra (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rosy-patched Bushshrike is recorded against all the birds logged in Amboseli National Park (111 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.
