Batis soror
Silhouette: Mathieu Pélissié · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The pale batis (Batis soror), also known as the Mozambique batis or East coast batis, is a species of small bird in the wattle-eyes family, Platysteiridae. It occurs in eastern Africa, mostly in lowland miombo woodland.
The pale batis is an active, black, white and grey bird which is pale grey above with a black face mask bordered by a thin white supercilium, yellow eye and a pale grey back, mottled with faint white spots. It has white underparts marked with a black band across the breast in males; females have a pale rufous breast band and a similar coloured spot on the chin. The bill and legs are black. Immature birds are similar to the female except that the breast band is browner and the underparts have a buffy wash. The pale batis measures 10.5–11.5 cm (4.1–4.5 in) in length and weighs 8–13.1 g (0.28–0.46 oz).
The territorial call of the pale batis is a repeated, mournful, long and piping 3-note "pook pook pook" which is repeated up to 12 times at a constant rate, with which the female duets giving excited "wik-wik" calls. Otherwise the repertoire consists of typical batis bill snaps, churrs and whistles.
Eastern Africa from coastal... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mikumi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Pale Batis sighting in Mikumi National Park on a given day, based on 56 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 44th most-seen of the 261 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Pale Batis in Mikumi National Park on a given day, against about 10% in January and April–May, the lowest months. That is one of Mikumi National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 200 mm in April.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pale Batis 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 2 parks where we can rate Pale Batis sightings, Mikumi National Park has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Gorongosa National Park (Mozambique, about 20%).
Same genus: Batis
The closest relatives of the Pale Batis that you can see in Mikumi National Park (genus Batis, turtleweeds) are Chinspot Batis (about 10%) and Eastern Black-headed Batis (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pale Batis is recorded against all the birds logged in Mikumi National Park (56 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.
