Accipiter melanoleucus
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The black sparrowhawk (Astur melanoleucus), sometimes known as the black goshawk or great sparrowhawk, is a bird of prey belonging to the family Accipitridae. It was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter. It occurs mainly in forest and non-desert areas south of the Sahara, particularly where there are large trees suitable for nesting; favored habitat includes suburban and human-altered landscapes. It preys predominantly on birds of moderate size, such as pigeons and doves, in suburban areas.
These white-breasted individuals are known as "white morphs" which are in the majority over most of the birds' range. The "black morph" variety is generally rare, except along the coastal regions of South Africa, including the Cape Peninsula where they constitute 80% of the population. (Black sparrowhawks do not occur more than about 200–300 km north of Cape Town...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Chinko Conservation Area | 🇨🇫 Central African Republic | |
| 4 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Addis Ababa | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 2 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Yaoundé | 🇨🇲 Cameroon | |
| 8 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 9 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 10 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dullstroom Bird Of Prey & Rehabilitation Centre | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black Goshawk sighting in Chinko Conservation Area on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 30th most-seen of the 47 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.
February and October
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Black Goshawk in Chinko Conservation Area on a given day, against under 5% in January, April–September and November, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black Goshawk sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Black Goshawk sightings, Chinko Conservation Area ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Arusha National Park (Tanzania, about 30%) and Table Mountain National Park (South Africa, about 20%).
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the Black Goshawk that you can see in Chinko Conservation Area (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are Black Kite (about 50%), Red-necked Buzzard (about 20%) and Dark Chanting-Goshawk (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black Goshawk is recorded against all the birds logged in Chinko Conservation Area (5 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.
