Laniarius major
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~80%
The tropical boubou or bell shrike (Laniarius aethiopicus) is a medium-sized passerine bird of sub-Saharan Africa. This very diverse "species" with its numerous subspecies and morphs has since long posed a taxonomic problem, and recent research suggests it is a cryptic species complex that has now been split into several species.
The tropical boubou is fairly large for its family (bushshrikes), measuring 23–25 cm in length. Its weight can vary between about 38-70 g, but typically adults weigh between 50 and 60 g. Females are on average a bit smaller than males, but individual variation is so large that for most practical purposes the sexes seem to be of identical size. The wing measures about 98 mm on average (between 85 and 110), the tail is a mere two millimetres longer both on average and as regards variation. The tarsus is 29–37 mm long, 33 mm on average, while the bill's exposed culmen measures a little over 20 mm in some populations and as much as 25 mm in others. Unlike the other measurements where there is mostly individual variation, the bill length might distinctly vary between subspecies.
Not only are males and females the same size, they have identical... Wikipedia →
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Tropical Boubou sighting in Lilongwe on a given day, based on 21 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 5th most-seen of the 52 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February, May and November
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Tropical Boubou in Lilongwe on a given day, against about 10% in September, the lowest month. October has too few records to rate.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tropical Boubou sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 8
Of the 8 cities where we can rate Tropical Boubou sightings, Lilongwe ranks 4th at about 20%. The best odds are in Bujumbura (Burundi, about 40%), Kigali (Rwanda, about 30%) and Harare (Zimbabwe, about 30%).
Same family: Malaconotidae
The closest relatives of the Tropical Boubou that you can see in Lilongwe (family Malaconotidae, Bushshrikes and Allies) are Black-backed Puffback (about 20%) and Sulphur-Breasted Bushshrike (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Tropical Boubou is recorded against all the birds logged in Lilongwe (21 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.
