Schoenicola brevirostris
Silhouette: Afsarnayakkan · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The fan-tailed grassbird or broad-tailed warbler (Catriscus brevirostris) is an African species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. The species is closely related to the broad-tailed grassbird of India, and is sometimes treated as the same species, although a 2018 study found that it and the broad-tailed grassbird were not closely related, with the Indian species being a sister of Chaetornis striata.
The species has a discontinuous distribution across Africa, and is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is found in grassy areas dominated by grasses, sedges or shrubs near water (streams, rivers or lakes), from 350–2,150 m (1,150–7,050 ft).
Fan-tailed grassbird - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 4 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Fan-tailed Grassbird sighting in Kidepo Valley National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 269th most-seen of the 332 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.
September
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Fan-tailed Grassbird in Kidepo Valley National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June–August and October–March, the lowest months. April and May have too few records to rate.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Fan-tailed Grassbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Fan-tailed Grassbird sightings, Kidepo Valley National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Queen Elizabeth National Park (Uganda, under 5%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Fan-tailed Grassbird that you can see in Kidepo Valley National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Piapiac (about 70%), Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu (about 70%) and Yellow-billed Shrike (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Fan-tailed Grassbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Kidepo Valley National Park (10 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.
