Cisticola brunnescens
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The pectoral-patch cisticola (Cisticola brunnescens) is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is native to the Adamawa Massif, Gabon, the Congo and highlands of East Africa. Its natural habitats are damp or wet areas in upland grassland.
At 9–10 cm this is a small, streak-backed cisticola with short or medium tail, which may get longer in the breeding season. It differs from the pale-crowned cisticola in having a pale rufous (not buff) crown and forehead in the breeding season. The pectoral patches become darker in the breeding season, but even then they may not be easy to see.
The voice is stonechat-like in quality with harsh tssk tssk or szisk szisk notes given in display flight. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 5 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 6 | Bale Mountains National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 7 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 8 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Pectoral-patch Cisticola sighting in Masai Mara National Reserve on a given day, based on 458 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 99th most-seen of the 398 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.
April and May
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Pectoral-patch Cisticola in Masai Mara National Reserve on a given day, against about 10% in June–October and December–January, the lowest months. Those are among Masai Mara National Reserve's wettest months, with about 100 mm of rain a month against 15 mm in July.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pectoral-patch Cisticola 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 8 parks where we can rate Pectoral-patch Cisticola sightings, Masai Mara National Reserve ranks 2nd at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 20%).
Same genus: Cisticola
The closest relatives of the Pectoral-patch Cisticola that you can see in Masai Mara National Reserve (genus Cisticola, Cisticolas) are Rattling Cisticola (about 30%), Stout Cisticola (about 20%) and Zitting Cisticola (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pectoral-patch Cisticola is recorded against all the birds logged in Masai Mara National Reserve (458 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.
