African Thrush

African Thrush

Turdus pelios

Silhouette: Sharon Wegner-Larsen · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~70% · Very likely
at Kampala

In 3 days >90%

1,630 Verified sightings at Kampala
2,532 In all 14 parks From 2019 to 2026
September Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the African Thrush

The African thrush or West African thrush (Turdus pelios) is a passerine bird in the thrush family Turdidae. It is common in well-wooded areas over much of the western part of sub-Saharan Africa, it was once considered to be conspecific with the olive thrush but that species has now been split further. Populations are resident (non-migratory).

The African Thrush has dark olive-grey upperparts. The underparts show a whitish evenly brown- streaked side throat, the breast is greyish brown and the flanks are pale buff-orange with this colour not extending on to the lower breast, the belly and vent are white. It has a yellow-orange bill. It weighs 46–78 g (1.6–2.8 oz) and measures 21–23 cm (8.3–9.1 in) in length.

The song of the African thrush is a sustained, clear warbling made up of different phrases repeated rather randomly in a sequence. Also a high-pitched squealing flight call. The African thrush is distributed from Senegal and Gambia in the west to South Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia and Eritrea south to northwestern Zambia and western Angola.

The African thrush can be found in all sorts of wooded habitats including forest... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:27

Ethiopia · 2026

© Kiros Welegrima · XC1105610 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Uncertain0:17

Gabon · 2021

© BurBenj · XC671679 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:25

Zambia · 2019

© Peter Boesman · XC509172 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kibale National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~40%
2 Akagera National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
~30%
3 Semuliki National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~30%
4 Lake Mburo National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~20%
5 Volcanoes National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
~20%
6 Queen Elizabeth National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~20%
7 Lake Nakuru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~20%
8 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~10%
9 Murchison Falls National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~10%
10 Virunga National Park 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo
~10%
11 Nyungwe National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
~10%
12 Niokolo-Koba National Park 🇸🇳 Senegal
<5%
13 Bale Mountains National Park 🇪🇹 Ethiopia
<5%
14 Kidepo Valley National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Abuja 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~90%
2 Ouagadougou 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso
~80%
3 Brazzaville 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo
~70%
4 Kampala 🇺🇬 Uganda
~70%
5 Accra 🇬🇭 Ghana
~50%
6 Yaoundé 🇨🇲 Cameroon
~50%
7 Bujumbura 🇧🇮 Burundi
~50%
8 Kigali 🇷🇼 Rwanda
~50%
9 Maiduguri 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~50%
10 Lagos 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~40%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing an African Thrush in Kampala?

Very likely

About 70% of wildlife watchers report an African Thrush sighting in Kampala on a given day, based on 1,630 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 5th most-seen of the 332 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see an African Thrush in Kampala?

March–May and August–January

In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report an African Thrush in Kampala on a given day, against about 60% in February and June–July, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see an African Thrush?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Thrush sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Kampala the best place to see an African Thrush?

4th of 17

Of the 17 cities where we can rate African Thrush sightings, Kampala ranks 4th at about 70%. The best odds are in Abuja (Nigeria, about 90%), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso, about 80%) and Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo, about 70%).

Which relatives of the African Thrush live in Kampala?

Same order: Passeriformes

The closest relatives of the African Thrush that you can see in Kampala (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Common Bulbul (about 80%), Pied Crow (about 60%) and Green-backed Camaroptera (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the African Thrush sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the African Thrush is recorded against all the birds logged in Kampala (1,630 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.

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