Buphagus africanus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The yellow-billed oxpecker (Buphagus africanus) is a passerine bird in the family Buphagidae. It was previously placed in the starling and myna family, Sturnidae. It is native to the savannah of Sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal east to Sudan. It is least common in the extreme east of its range where it overlaps with the red-billed oxpecker, despite always dominating that species when feeding.
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the yellow-billed oxpecker in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Senegal. He used the French name Le pique-boeuf and the Latin Buphagus. 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 yellow-billed oxpecker. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Buphaga africana and cited Brisson's work. This species is placed in the genus Buphagus that was introduced by Brisson... Wikipedia →
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-billed Oxpecker sighting in Masai Mara National Reserve on a given day, based on 1,294 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 21st most-seen of the 398 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-billed Oxpecker in Masai Mara National Reserve on a given day, against about 30% in May and July, the lowest months. That is one of Masai Mara National Reserve's wettest months, with about 140 mm of rain against 15 mm in July.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-billed Oxpecker sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 33 parks where we can rate Yellow-billed Oxpecker sightings, Masai Mara National Reserve ranks 2nd at about 40%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Queen Elizabeth National Park (Uganda, about 40%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-billed Oxpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Masai Mara National Reserve (1,294 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.
