Blackcap Babbler

Blackcap Babbler

Turdoides reinwardtii

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~30% · Possible
at Serrekunda

In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%

210 Verified sightings at Serrekunda
171 In 1 park From 2019 to 2026
August Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Blackcap Babbler

The blackcap babbler (Turdoides reinwardtii) is a member of the family Leiothrichidae. The blackcap babbler is a common resident breeding bird in west Africa from Senegal to Cameroon. Its habitat is thick scrub and forest. This species, like most babblers, is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight.

It builds its cup-shaped nest in a tree, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is two or three eggs. These birds have dark grey-brown upperparts. The head is brownish black with a white throat and conspicuous white eye ring. The underparts are white, mottled on the breast and with buff flanks.

The blackcap babbler lives in flocks of four to twelve or more, which help to raise the young communally. It is a noisy bird, and the presence of a flock may generally be known at some distance by the continual chattering, squeaking and chirping produced by its members. The main call is a cha-ka-ta. It feeds mainly on insects, but also eats fruit.

The binomial commemorates the botanist Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt. Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1 Collar, N. J. & Robson, C. 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call1:30

Senegal · 2026

© Peter Boesman · XC1081445 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Duet1:02

Niger · 2018

© Étienne Leroy · XC928469 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call0:41

Gambia · 2021

© Joost van Bruggen · XC690026 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Niokolo-Koba National Park 🇸🇳 Senegal
~40%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Serrekunda 🇬🇲 Gambia
~30%
2 Accra 🇬🇭 Ghana
~10%
3 Ouagadougou 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Blackcap Babbler in Serrekunda?

Possible

About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Blackcap Babbler sighting in Serrekunda on a given day, based on 210 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 55th most-seen of the 213 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Blackcap Babbler in Serrekunda?

February, April and July–November

In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Blackcap Babbler in Serrekunda on a given day, against about 10% in May and June, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Blackcap Babbler?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blackcap Babbler 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 Serrekunda the best place to see a Blackcap Babbler?

Yes

Of the 3 cities where we can rate Blackcap Babbler sightings, Serrekunda has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Accra (Ghana, about 10%) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso, about 10%).

Where does the Blackcap Babbler sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Blackcap Babbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Serrekunda (210 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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