Burhinus capensis
Silhouette: Auckland Museum · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The spotted thick-knee (Burhinus capensis), also known as the spotted dikkop or Cape thick-knee, is a wader in the family Burhinidae. It is native to tropical regions of central and southern Africa. The spotted thick-knee, which can reach up to 45.5 cm (17.9 in) in height, has long legs and brown-and-white speckled plumage which provides camouflage, making it difficult to spot the bird in the grasslands and savannas where it roams. Its head is large and round with a prominent yellow eye and a short, stout beak. When in flight or standing in a characteristic position with its wings raised, it shows a striking contrasting pattern. Its legs are long and yellow and the tibiotarsal joint is expanded, giving it the name "thick-knee".
The spotted thick-knee is nocturnal and squats on the ground during the daytime, making it difficult to spot. It hunts exclusively on the ground, feeding on insects, small mammals and lizards. It nests on the ground, lining a scrape with grasses, feathers, pebbles and twigs. The female typically lays two eggs, and males and females rear the offspring together, with both bringing food back to the nest. The birds... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Maputo | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 5 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Thick-knee sighting in Johannesburg on a given day, based on 748 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 40th most-seen of the 219 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 August
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Thick-knee in Johannesburg on a given day, against about 10% in February to June, the lowest months. Those are among Johannesburg's driest months, with about 5 mm of rain a month against 130 mm in December.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spotted Thick-knee sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 5 cities where we can rate Spotted Thick-knee sightings, Johannesburg has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Pretoria (South Africa, about 10%) and Cape Town (South Africa, about 10%).
Same order: Charadriiformes
The closest relatives of the Spotted Thick-knee that you can see in Johannesburg (order Charadriiformes, Shorebirds and Allies) are Blacksmith Lapwing (about 30%), African Wattled Lapwing (about 20%) and Crowned Lapwing (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spotted Thick-knee is recorded against all the birds logged in Johannesburg (748 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.
