Bradypterus baboecala
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The little rush warbler or African bush warbler (Bradypterus baboecala) is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Republic of the Congo, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Eswatini, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is swamps.
Its characteristic vocalization starts slow and increases in speed; it has been described as "distinctive and loud." It occurs most often during breeding season, while raining. Little rush warbler/African Sedge Warbler - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.
Little rush warbler Structured guide to the species in southern Africa Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 5 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 9 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 10 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Little Rush-Warbler sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 667 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 37th most-seen of the 196 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and September
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Little Rush-Warbler in Cape Town on a given day, against about 10% in February, May and December, the lowest months. Those are among Cape Town's wettest months, with about 95 mm of rain a month against 15 mm in February.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Little Rush-Warbler sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Little Rush-Warbler sightings, Cape Town has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Harare (Zimbabwe, about 20%) and Mombasa (Kenya, about 10%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Little Rush-Warbler that you can see in Cape Town (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Cape White-eye (about 70%), European Starling (about 70%) and Cape Sparrow (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Little Rush-Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Cape Town (667 verified sightings), 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.
