Urocolius macrourus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The blue-naped mousebird (Urocolius macrourus), also formerly called the blue-naped coly (Colius macrourus) is a species of bird belonging to the family Coliidae within the order Coliiformes. They are the sister group to the clade Eucavitaves, which contains the families Leptosomiformes (the cuckoo roller), Trogoniformes (trogons), Bucerotiformes (hornbills and hoopoes), Piciformes (woodpeckers, toucans, and barbets) and Coraciformes (kingfishers, bee-eaters, rollers, motmots, and todies).
The species is found in the wild in the drier regions of West Africa to East Africa, as well as Sahel. It is one of the remaining six species of mousebirds. The term "mousebird" comes from its habit of running along branches in a way that resembles the scurrying of a mouse.
There are a total of six recognized subspecies: Urocolius macrourus macrourus (Distribution: Senegambia to east Ethiopia) Urocolius macrourus syntactus (Distribution: Sahel from Mali, southern Niger, and northern Nigeria east to Sudan, Eritrea, and northern Ethiopia)
Urocolius macrourus laeneni (Distribution: Aïr Massif, in NC Niger.) Urocolius macrourus pulcher (Distribution: extreme South East South Sudan, Eastern... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 3 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 5 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 8 | Lake Manyara National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 9 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 10 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 11 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 12 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 13 | Ruaha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 14 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 15 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 16 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 17 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 18 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 19 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 20 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 21 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 22 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 23 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Basel Zoo | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 3 | North Carolina Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Memphis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Tierwelt Herberstein | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 6 | Schönbrunn Zoo | 🇦🇹 Austria |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-naped Mousebird sighting in Lake Mburo National Park on a given day, based on 685 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 11th most-seen of the 362 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and October
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-naped Mousebird in Lake Mburo National Park on a given day, against about 40% in January–February and April–May, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue-naped Mousebird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 23 parks where we can rate Blue-naped Mousebird sightings, Lake Mburo National Park has the highest daily chance: about 50%. Next come Akagera National Park (Rwanda, about 50%) and Tsavo West National Park (Kenya, about 40%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue-naped Mousebird is recorded against all the birds logged in Lake Mburo National Park (685 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.
