Sphenoeacus afer
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The Cape grassbird or Cape grass warbler (Sphenoeacus afer) is an African warbler found in southern Africa. It is the only species placed in the genus Sphenoeacus. The Cape grassbird was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the flycatchers in the genus Muscicapa and coined the binomial name Muscicapa afra. Gmelin based his description on the "spotted yellow flycatcher" from the Cape of Good Hope that had been described in 1783 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds. The Cape grassbird is now the only species placed in the genus Sphenoeacus that was introduced in 1841 by the English naturalist Hugh Strickland. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek sphēn meaning "wedge" with oiax meaning "helm". The specific epithet afer is Latin meaning "African".
Four subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden Gate Highlands National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Grassbird sighting in Garden Route National Park on a given day, based on 43 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 166th most-seen of the 222 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.
January and April
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Grassbird in Garden Route National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–March and May–December, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cape Grassbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Cape Grassbird sightings, Garden Route National Park ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Golden Gate Highlands National Park (South Africa, about 40%), De Hoop Nature Reserve (South Africa, about 20%) and West Coast National Park (South Africa, about 20%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cape Grassbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Garden Route National Park (43 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.
