Ptilostomus afer
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The piapiac (Ptilostomus afer) is an African bird in the crow family, and is the only member of the genus Ptilostomus. It is most closely related to the Central Asian ground jays. In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the piapiac in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Senegal. He used the French name La pie du Sénégal and the Latin Pica Senegalensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the piapiac. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Corvus afer and cited Brisson's work. The specific name afer is Latin for "Africa". The piapiac is the only species placed in the genus Ptilostomus that was introduced by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1837. The species is monotypic.
A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2005 found that the piapiac from Africa was most closely related... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 4 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walsrode World Bird Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Very likely
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Piapiac sighting in Kidepo Valley National Park on a given day, based on 310 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 332 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 90% of wildlife watchers report a Piapiac in Kidepo Valley National Park on a given day, against about 50% in February, the lowest month. That is one of Kidepo Valley National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 130 mm in July. April and May have too few records to rate.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Piapiac 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 5 parks where we can rate Piapiac sightings, Kidepo Valley National Park ranks 2nd at about 70%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Murchison Falls National Park (Uganda, about 70%).
Same family: Corvidae
The closest relatives of the Piapiac that you can see in Kidepo Valley National Park (family Corvidae, Crows, Jays, and Magpies) are Fan-tailed Raven (about 40%) and Pied Crow (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Piapiac is recorded against all the birds logged in Kidepo Valley National Park (310 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.
