African Blue Flycatcher

African Blue Flycatcher

Elminia longicauda

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

376 Verified sightings at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park From 2019 to 2026
1,385 In all 8 parks
August Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the African Blue Flycatcher

The African blue flycatcher or blue-crested flycatcher (Elminia longicauda) is a species of bird in the family Stenostiridae from western and central Sub-Saharan Africa. The African blue flycatcher is a dainty, pale, bright blue flycatcher with a short crest and long tail. The entire upper parts and tail are bright blue, shading between blue and cyan, with black lores and black flight feathers edged with blue, the underparts are greyish blue fading to whitish on the belly. The bill and legs are black. Juveniles are duller with faint greyish spotting on the head and wing coverts. It measures 15–18 cm (5.9–7.1 in) in length and weighs 7–12 g (0.25–0.42 oz).

The song of the African blue flycatcher is a series of slow, rather random and tuneless sibilant notes strung together in no particular order. Call is a quiet "tsip". The African blue flycatcher occurs from Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia east discontinuously to Kenya and south through the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to northern Angola.

Its natural habitats are moist lowland forests, mangrove forests, gallery forest, montane forests, gardens, wooded farmland and... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:56

Senegal · 2024

© Frank Lambert · XC1041364 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call0:53

Senegal · 2018

© Bram Piot · XC405127 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Recording0:21

Ghana · 2022

© Phil Gregory · XC718068 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kibale National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~40%
2 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~20%
3 Niokolo-Koba National Park 🇸🇳 Senegal
~10%
4 Queen Elizabeth National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~10%
5 Masai Mara National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
6 Semuliki National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
7 Virunga National Park 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo
<5%
8 Murchison Falls National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Yaoundé 🇨🇲 Cameroon
~40%
2 Abuja 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~10%
3 Kampala 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing an African Blue Flycatcher in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report an African Blue Flycatcher sighting in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park on a given day, based on 376 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 88th most-seen of the 400 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.

When is the best time to see an African Blue Flycatcher in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?

August and November

In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report an African Blue Flycatcher in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park on a given day, against about 10% in February–June and December, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see an African Blue Flycatcher?

Between 2 and 5 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Blue Flycatcher sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Bwindi Impenetrable National Park the best place to see an African Blue Flycatcher?

2nd of 8

Of the 8 parks where we can rate African Blue Flycatcher sightings, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Kibale National Park (Uganda, about 40%).

Which relatives of the African Blue Flycatcher live in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?

Same genus: Elminia

The closest relatives of the African Blue Flycatcher that you can see in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (genus Elminia, Elminia Blue and Crested Flycatchers) are White-tailed Blue-Flycatcher (about 30%) and White-bellied Crested-Flycatcher (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the African Blue Flycatcher sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the African Blue Flycatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (376 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.

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