Muscicapa striata
Silhouette: Ekytza · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It breeds in most of Europe and in the Palearctic to Siberia, and is migratory, wintering in Africa and south western Asia. It is declining in parts of its range.
This is an undistinguished looking bird with long wings and tail. The adults have grey-brown upperparts and whitish underparts, with a streaked crown and breast, giving rise to the bird's common name. The legs are short and black, and the bill is black and has the broad but pointed shape typical of aerial insectivores. Juveniles are browner than adults and have spots on the upperparts.
The spotted flycatcher was described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 and given the binomial name Motacilla striata. The genus name Muscicapa comes from the Latin musca, a fly and capere, to catch. The specific epithet striata is from the Latin striatus meaning striated.
There are five recognised subspecies all of which winter in southern Africa. The breeding range is given below. Wikipedia →
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Flycatcher sighting in Doñana National Park on a given day, based on 262 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 119th most-seen of the 234 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Flycatcher in Doñana National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to April, the lowest months. That is one of Doñana National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 90 mm in October.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spotted Flycatcher sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
35th of 69
Of the 69 parks where we can rate Spotted Flycatcher sightings, Doñana National Park ranks 35th at about 10%. The best odds are in Tsavo West National Park (Kenya, about 40%), Białowieża National Park (Poland, about 30%) and Meru National Park (Kenya, about 30%).
Same family: Muscicapidae
The closest relatives of the Spotted Flycatcher that you can see in Doñana National Park (family Muscicapidae, Old World Flycatchers, Robins, and Chats) are European Stonechat (about 60%), Black Redstart (about 20%) and European Robin (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spotted Flycatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Doñana National Park (262 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
