Chamaetylas poliocephala
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The brown-chested alethe (Chamaetylas poliocephala) is a species of bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It has a discontinuous range of presence across the African tropical rainforest. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
The brown-chested alethe was formally described in 1850 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte based on a manuscript by Coenraad Temminck. Bonaparte gave the binomial name as Trichophorus (Griniger) and the locality as Africa. The locality has been restricted to the island of Bioko (formally Fernando Po). The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek polios meaning "grey" with -kephalos meaning "-headed". The brown-chested alethe is now one of four species placed in the genus Chamaetylas that was introduced in 1860 by Ferdinand Heine.
Nine subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-chested Alethe sighting in Kibale National Park on a given day, based on 39 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 215th most-seen of the 366 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.
May and September–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-chested Alethe in Kibale National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June–August and November–April, the lowest months. Those are among Kibale National Park's wettest months, with about 110 mm of rain a month against 20 mm in February.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown-chested Alethe 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 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Brown-chested Alethe sightings, Kibale National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Semuliki National Park (Uganda, about 10%).
Same family: Muscicapidae
The closest relatives of the Brown-chested Alethe that you can see in Kibale National Park (family Muscicapidae, Old World Flycatchers, Robins, and Chats) are Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat (about 30%), Grey Tit-Flycatcher (about 20%) and African Dusky Flycatcher (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown-chested Alethe is recorded against all the birds logged in Kibale National Park (39 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.
