Eastern Nicator

Eastern Nicator

Nicator gularis

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Meru National Park

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

36 Verified sightings at Meru National Park From 2019 to 2026
1,098 In all 15 parks
April Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Eastern Nicator

The eastern nicator (Nicator gularis) is a species of songbird in the family Nicatoridae. It is found in Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It occurs south to around Mtunzini in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and is regularly reported from lowland areas north through to east Africa, including inland areas along the Zambezi River.

This species was formerly called the "yellow-spotted nicator" although this is no longer the case, with that name now belonging solely to the central African western nicator. It is an insectivore. Eastern Nicator (= Yellow-spotted Nicator) - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:41

Kenya · 2025

© Louis A. Hansen · XC1060098 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:07

Zambia · 2023

© Dries Van de Loock · XC810320 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Alarm call0:22

Kenya · 2022

© Lars Lachmann · XC756108 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Mana Pools National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~30%
2 Lower Zambezi National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~20%
3 uMkhuze Game Reserve 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
4 iSimangaliso Wetland Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
5 Meru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~20%
6 Gorongosa National Park 🇲🇿 Mozambique
~20%
7 Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
8 Ruaha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
9 Gonarezhou National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~10%
10 South Luangwa National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~10%
11 Liwonde National Park 🇲🇼 Malawi
~10%
12 Tsavo West National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
13 Lake Manyara National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
14 Mikumi National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
15 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing an Eastern Nicator in Meru National Park?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Nicator sighting in Meru National Park on a given day, based on 36 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 120th most-seen of the 243 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.

When is the best time to see an Eastern Nicator in Meru National Park?

April and November

In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Nicator in Meru National Park on a given day, against about 10% in September and December–March, the lowest months. Those are among Meru National Park's wettest months, with about 190 mm of rain a month against almost none in July. May and July–August have too few records to rate.

What time of day is best to see an Eastern Nicator?

Between 6 and 9 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eastern Nicator sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Which relatives of the Eastern Nicator live in Meru National Park?

Same order: Passeriformes

The closest relatives of the Eastern Nicator that you can see in Meru National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Superb Starling (about 90%), White-headed Buffalo-Weaver (about 80%) and Fork-tailed Drongo (about 80%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Eastern Nicator sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Eastern Nicator is recorded against all the birds logged in Meru National Park (36 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.

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