Southern White-crowned Shrike

Southern White-crowned Shrike

Eurocephalus anguitimens

Silhouette: PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Kruger National Park

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

1,595 Verified sightings at Kruger National Park From 2019 to 2026
3,011 In all 6 parks
June Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Southern White-crowned Shrike

The southern white-crowned shrike (Eurocephalus anguitimens) is a species of bird in the family Laniidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry savannah.

The southern white-crowned shrike grows to a length of about 24 cm (9 in). The sexes are alike; in the adult bird the crown and forehead are white, and the mask is black and extends above and below the eye to the side of the neck. The nape and upper parts are ashy-brown and the wings and tail are dark brown. The underparts are off-white, the upper breast being tinged with buff. The lower belly and vent areas are ashy-brown. The beak is black, the eyes brown and the legs dark brown. Juveniles are similar to adult birds but the crown is slightly mottled and barred and grey rather than white. The chin and throat are white but the remaining parts of the underparts are tinged with ashy brown.

Like the closely related northern white-crowned shrike, this species is highly sociable and will form small, tightly-knit groups of usually three to six individuals, but occasionally up to twenty outside the... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:10

Namibia · 2025

© Filippo Ceccolini · XC1037325 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:17

South Africa · 2013

© Peter Boesman · XC280307 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call0:51

Botswana · 2023

© Marc Anderson · XC878238 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Hwange National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~40%
2 Etosha National Park 🇳🇦 Namibia
~40%
3 Waterberg Plateau Park 🇳🇦 Namibia
~30%
4 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
5 Moremi Game Reserve 🇧🇼 Botswana
~10%
6 Chobe National Park 🇧🇼 Botswana
~10%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 African Dawn Bird and Wildlife Sanctuary 🇿🇦 South Africa In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Southern White-crowned Shrike in Kruger National Park?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Southern White-crowned Shrike sighting in Kruger National Park on a given day, based on 1,595 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 115th most-seen of the 464 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Southern White-crowned Shrike in Kruger National Park?

January to October

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Southern White-crowned Shrike in Kruger National Park on a given day, against about 10% in November and December, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Southern White-crowned Shrike?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southern White-crowned Shrike sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Which relatives of the Southern White-crowned Shrike live in Kruger National Park?

Same family: Laniidae

The closest relatives of the Southern White-crowned Shrike that you can see in Kruger National Park (family Laniidae, Shrikes) are Magpie Shrike (about 50%), Red-backed Shrike (about 20%) and Lesser Grey Shrike (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Southern White-crowned Shrike sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Southern White-crowned Shrike is recorded against all the birds logged in Kruger National Park (1,595 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.

← Back to Kruger National Park