Crinifer piscator
Silhouette: Lisa M. "Pixxl" (photo), John E. McCormack, Michael G. Harvey, Brant C. Faircloth, Nicholas G. Crawford, Travis C. Glenn, Robb T. Brumfield & T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The western plantain-eater (Crinifer piscator), also known as the grey plantain-eater or western grey plantain-eater, is a large member of the turaco family, a group of large arboreal passerine-like birds restricted to Africa.
This species is a resident breeder in open woodland habitats in tropical west Africa. It lays two or three eggs in a tree platform nest. These are common, noisy and conspicuous birds, despite lacking the brilliant colours of relatives such as the violet turaco. They are 50 cm long, including a long tail. Their plumage is mainly grey above spotted with brown. The head, erectile crest, neck and breast are brown streaked with silver. The underparts are whitish, heavily streaked with brown.
The western plantain-eater has a thick bright yellow bill and shows a white wing bar in flight. The sexes are identical, but juveniles have a black woolly head without silver streaking. This bird is similar to the closely related eastern plantain-eater. The latter species has white tail bars, and lacks the chest bars and dark wing feather shafts of its western relative.
This species feeds on fruit, especially figs, seeds and other vegetable matter. The Western plantain-eater has a loud cow-cow-cow call, which is very familiar in west Africa.
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 2 | Mole National Park | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 3 | Saloum Delta National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 4 | Kakum National Park | 🇬🇭 Ghana |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 2 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 3 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 4 | Accra | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 5 | Monrovia | 🇱🇷 Liberia | |
| 6 | Abidjan | 🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire | |
| 7 | Maiduguri | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 8 | Lagos | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 9 | Kumasi | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 10 | Lomé | 🇹🇬 Togo |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leipzig Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Barcelona Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Le Pal | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Wildlife World Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Moody Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Zoologischer Garten Leipzig | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Zoo Atlanta | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Bird Paradise | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 9 | Aquarama Barcelona | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 10 | Rainforest Wild Asia | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 11 | Monkeyland | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 12 | Elephant Sanctuary, The Crags, Plettenberg Bay | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 13 | World of Birds Wildlife Sanctuary and Monkey Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 14 | Birds of Eden | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 15 | Wolfgang-Köhler-Primaten-Forschungszentrum | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Grey Plantain-eater sighting in Kakum National Park on a given day, based on 35 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 180th most-seen of the 250 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.
July
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Western Grey Plantain-eater in Kakum National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February and October–December, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Western Grey Plantain-eater sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Western Grey Plantain-eater sightings, Kakum National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal, about 70%), Mole National Park (Ghana, about 50%) and Saloum Delta National Park (Senegal, about 30%).
Same family: Musophagidae
The closest relatives of the Western Grey Plantain-eater that you can see in Kakum National Park (family Musophagidae, Turacos) are Yellow-billed Turaco (about 50%) and Green Turaco (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Western Grey Plantain-eater is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakum National Park (35 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.
