Apaloderma vittatum
Silhouette: Keith Murdock (photo), John E. McCormack, Michael G. Harvey, Brant C. Faircloth, Nicholas G. Crawford, Travis C. Glenn, Robb T. Brumfield & T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The bar-tailed trogon (Apaloderma vittatum) is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae. It is a resident bird native to central Africa that eats primarily insects and fruit. The bar-tailed trogon averages about 28 centimetres (11 in) long. The bill and feet are yellow, and the tail, long and broad as usual for trogons, has the underside narrowly barred with black and white. The male's head is blue-black with bronze iridescence. Below the eye are two yellow or orange patches of bare skin; above the eye is a yellow or grey patch. The upper breast is iridescent from violet to blue-green; the rest of the underparts are red. The back is green and the upper surface of the tail is blue-black or purple-black. The female's head is brown with less ornamental bare skin and its throat and breast are light cinnamon; otherwise it resembles the male. The immature is similar to the female, but has a white belly and pale spots on the wings formed by the tips of the wing coverts and inner secondaries.
The vocalisations are described as a yelping crescendo, "yaow, yow, yow, yow… or wuk-wuk-wuk-wuk…". The female gives "a whining chee-uu". The bar... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bar-tailed Trogon sighting in Arusha National Park on a given day, based on 103 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 116th most-seen of the 373 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Bar-tailed Trogon in Arusha National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, the lowest month. That is one of Arusha National Park's driest months, with about 65 mm of rain against 440 mm in April.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bar-tailed Trogon sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Bar-tailed Trogon sightings, Arusha National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Uganda, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bar-tailed Trogon is recorded against all the birds logged in Arusha National Park (103 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.
