Sasia africana
Silhouette: Pepe Reigada · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The African piculet (Verreauxia africana), sometimes placed in the genus Sasia, is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is the only species placed in the genus Verreauxia. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, and Uganda. This species is described as locally common and has a very large range, so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The African piculet was formally described in 1855 by the French naturalists Jules and Édouard Verreaux from a specimen collected in Gabon, West Africa. They placed it in the genus Sasia and coined the binomial name Sasia africana. The African piculet is now the only species placed in the genus Verreauxia that was introduced in 1856 by the German ornithologist Gustav Hartlaub. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
The African piculet is a small bird some 9 to 10 cm (3.5 to 3.9 in) long. The male has a chestnut or reddish forehead and a greyish-green or olive-green crown whereas the forehead in...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Kakum National Park | 🇬🇭 Ghana |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an African Piculet sighting in Kakum National Park on a given day, based on 52 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 154th most-seen of the 250 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report an African Piculet in Kakum National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September–October and December, the lowest months. That is one of Kakum National Park's wettest months, with about 220 mm of rain against 35 mm in January.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Piculet sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate African Piculet sightings, Kakum National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Semuliki National Park (Uganda, about 20%).
Same family: Picidae
The closest relatives of the African Piculet that you can see in Kakum National Park (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Fire-bellied Woodpecker (about 40%), Melancholy Woodpecker (about 20%) and Buff-Spotted Woodpecker (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the African Piculet is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakum National Park (52 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.
