Cossypha humeralis
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The white-throated robin-chat or white-throated robin (Dessonornis humeralis) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are dry savannah and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
The white-throated robin-chat is found in dry savannah woodland and shrubland. The white-throated robin-chat is mainly insectivorous but also eats small vertebrates and some plant material. Its diet includes beetles, termites, ants, crickets, caterpillars, bugs, spiders and millipedes. It also consumes the fruits of the woolly caper-bush (Capparis tomentosa), the tassel-berry (Antidesma venosum), the sand raisin (Grewia microthyrsa), the magic guarrie (Euclea divinorum) and the dune guarrie (Euclea racemosa).
Breeding takes place in the spring, principally in October and November. The nest is usually on or near the ground, in a hollow stump, near the root of a vine or in a discarded utensil. It is cup-shaped and composed of twigs, dry grasses and leaves and lined with rootlets, tendrils, stalks and fragments of leaves. There are usually two or three eggs and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-Throated Robin-Chat sighting in Pretoria on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 125th most-seen of the 177 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March, May and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-Throated Robin-Chat in Pretoria on a given day, against under 5% in April, June and August–February, the lowest months. Those are among Pretoria's driest months, with about 30 mm of rain a month against 130 mm in December.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-Throated Robin-Chat 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 2 cities where we can rate White-Throated Robin-Chat sightings, Pretoria has the highest daily chance: under 5%. Next come Harare (Zimbabwe, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-Throated Robin-Chat is recorded against all the birds logged in Pretoria (16 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.
