Lissotis melanogaster
Silhouette: Kai Caspar · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The black-bellied bustard (Lissotis melanogaster), also known as the black-bellied korhaan, is an African ground-dwelling bird in the bustard family. The black-bellied bustard is 58–65 cm (23–26 in) long. The bill and legs are dull yellow. The male's upperparts have black and brown marks on a tawny buff background; the underparts are black. The head is boldly patterned with black, white and buff. The neck, long and thin for a bustard, is buffy brown with a thin black line down the front that joins the black breast. The tail is brown and buff with four or five narrow dark brown bands. The upper surface of the wings is white with a brown triangle at the base; the flight feathers have black tips except for the outer secondary feathers. The white of the wings is visible when the bird stands, contrasting with the black underparts.
The female is plain buff, cryptically marked with darker brown mottling on the back and vermiculation (narrow wavy bands) on the neck and breast. The juvenile is duller and darker, with a dark grey crown and buff spots on the wing. The neck and rump patterns of both sexes, the male's white chin and lores, and the female's vermiculations are... Wikipedia →
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-bellied Bustard sighting in Meru National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 159th most-seen of the 243 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and March–April
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-bellied Bustard in Meru National Park on a given day, against about 10% in February, June and September–December, the lowest months. Those are among Meru National Park's wettest months, with about 95 mm of rain a month against almost none in July. May and July–August have too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-bellied Bustard sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
11th of 26
Of the 26 parks where we can rate Black-bellied Bustard sightings, Meru National Park ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya, about 30%), Kidepo Valley National Park (Uganda, about 30%) and Mikumi National Park (Tanzania, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-bellied Bustard is recorded against all the birds logged in Meru National Park (14 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.
