Halcyon albiventris
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The brown-hooded kingfisher (Halcyon albiventris) is a species of bird in the subfamily Halcyoninae, the tree kingfishers. It has a brown head and blackish and turquoise wings. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, living in woodland, scrubland, forest edges, and also suburban areas. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as being of least concern.
This species was described as Alcedo albiventris by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1786. Subspecies hylophila and erlangeri have also been described, but they are not considered distinct enough. The brown-hooded kingfisher is about 22 cm (8.7 in) long. The head is brown, with blackish streaks. There is a broad buffy collar above the brownish-black mantle. The wing coverts are mostly brownish-black, and the secondary flight feathers are turquoise. The rump is azure-blue. The chin is white, the breast is tawny with some dark streaks, and the belly is buffy. The beak is red, tipped brown, the legs are carmine, and the eyes are dark brown. The female has dark... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Maputo | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 4 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 5 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 7 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berlin Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Aquarium Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-hooded Kingfisher sighting in Lake Manyara National Park on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 185th most-seen of the 307 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-hooded Kingfisher in Lake Manyara National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, May–July and September–December, the lowest months. That is one of Lake Manyara National Park's wettest months, with about 260 mm of rain against 15 mm in September.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown-hooded Kingfisher sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
22nd of 27
Of the 27 parks where we can rate Brown-hooded Kingfisher sightings, Lake Manyara National Park ranks 22nd at under 5%. The best odds are in uMkhuze Game Reserve (South Africa, about 50%), Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe, about 50%) and Mana Pools National Park (Zimbabwe, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Halcyon
The closest relatives of the Brown-hooded Kingfisher that you can see in Lake Manyara National Park (genus Halcyon, Typical Woodland Kingfishers) are Gray-headed Kingfisher (about 40%), Striped Kingfisher (about 20%) and Woodland Kingfisher (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown-hooded Kingfisher is recorded against all the birds logged in Lake Manyara National Park (20 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.
