Yellow-crowned Gonolek

Yellow-crowned Gonolek

Laniarius barbarus

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~80% · Very likely
at Ouagadougou

In 3 days >90%

72 Verified sightings at Ouagadougou
345 In 1 park From 2019 to 2026
September Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Yellow-crowned Gonolek

The yellow-crowned gonolek (Laniarius barbarus), also known as the common gonolek, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the bushshrike family. It is a common resident breeding bird in equatorial Africa from Senegal and Democratic Republic of Congo east to Ethiopia. It is a skulking bird and frequents dense undergrowth in forests and other wooded habitats. The nest is a cup structure in a bush or tree in which two eggs are laid.

In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the yellow-crowned gonolek in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Senegal. He used the French name La pie-griesche rouge du Sénégal and the Latin Lanius Senegalensis ruber. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the yellow-crowned gonolek. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Lanius barbarus and cited Brisson's work. The... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:13

Gambia · 2024

© Zsombor Károlyi · XC1163394 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Duet1:25

Gambia · 2025

© Romuald Mikusek · XC1041810 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Begging call0:33

Burkina Faso · 2025

© Marc Languy · XC1025786 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Niokolo-Koba National Park 🇸🇳 Senegal
~70%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Ouagadougou 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso
~80%
2 Accra 🇬🇭 Ghana
~30%
3 Serrekunda 🇬🇲 Gambia
~30%
4 Maiduguri 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~20%
5 Abuja 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~20%
6 Lagos 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~10%
7 Dakar 🇸🇳 Senegal
~10%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Berlin Zoological Garden 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
2 Aquarium Berlin 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Yellow-crowned Gonolek in Ouagadougou?

Very likely

About 80% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-crowned Gonolek sighting in Ouagadougou on a given day, based on 72 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 4th most-seen of the 86 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 a Yellow-crowned Gonolek in Ouagadougou?

September and December

In those months about 90% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-crowned Gonolek in Ouagadougou on a given day, against about 70% in May, July and October, the lowest months. February, August and November have too few records to rate.

What time of day is best to see a Yellow-crowned Gonolek?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-crowned Gonolek sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Ouagadougou the best place to see a Yellow-crowned Gonolek?

Yes

Of the 7 cities where we can rate Yellow-crowned Gonolek sightings, Ouagadougou has the highest daily chance: about 80%. Next come Accra (Ghana, about 30%) and Serrekunda (Gambia, about 30%).

Which relatives of the Yellow-crowned Gonolek live in Ouagadougou?

Same family: Malaconotidae

The closest relatives of the Yellow-crowned Gonolek that you can see in Ouagadougou (family Malaconotidae, Bushshrikes and Allies) are Northern Puffback (about 20%) and Sulphur-Breasted Bushshrike (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Yellow-crowned Gonolek sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Yellow-crowned Gonolek is recorded against all the birds logged in Ouagadougou (72 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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