Apalis alticola
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The brown-headed apalis (Apalis alticola) is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Apalis in the family Cisticolidae. Formerly included within the grey apalis (A. cinerea) but is now commonly considered to be a separate species.
It is 12–13 cm long with a long tail and fairly long, slender bill. The legs and feet are pinkish and the eye is pale orange. The upperparts are grey-brown, becoming chocolate-brown on the crown and cheeks. The underparts are whitish. The adult male and female are alike; juvenile birds are more olive above and slightly yellowish below.
The grey apalis is similar but has a grey-brown head and dark eye. The outer tail-feathers are white like those of A. a. dowsetti but it does not overlap in range with that subspecies. The song of the brown-headed apalis is a series of loud, high-pitched "chip" notes.
It has a patchy distribution in central and east Africa... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-headed Apalis sighting in Arusha National Park on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 295th most-seen of the 373 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, April and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-headed Apalis in Arusha National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–March, May–October and December, the lowest months. Those are among Arusha National Park's wettest months, with about 270 mm of rain a month against 65 mm in September.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown-headed Apalis 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 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Brown-headed Apalis sightings, Arusha National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Ngorongoro Conservation Area (Tanzania, about 10%).
Same genus: Apalis
The closest relatives of the Brown-headed Apalis that you can see in Arusha National Park (genus Apalis, Apalises) are Yellow-breasted Apalis (about 30%) and Black-headed Apalis (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown-headed Apalis is recorded against all the birds logged in Arusha National Park (11 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.
