Bradypterus baboecala
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
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 |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Little Rush-Warbler sighting in Johannesburg on a given day, based on 192 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 80th most-seen of the 219 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September to February
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Little Rush-Warbler in Johannesburg on a given day, against under 5% in March to August, the lowest months. Those are among Johannesburg's wettest months, with about 80 mm of rain a month against almost none in July.
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.
6th of 7
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Little Rush-Warbler sightings, Johannesburg ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Cape Town (South Africa, about 20%), 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 Johannesburg (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Southern Masked Weaver (about 80%), Common Bulbul (about 80%) and Cape Sparrow (about 80%), 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 Johannesburg (192 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.
