Cossypha semirufa
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Rüppell's robin-chat (Cossypha semirufa) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae, that is native to the Afrotropics. It is named for the German naturalist Eduard Rüppell. It is a smaller version of the White-browed robin-chat, measuring 18 cm rather than 20 cm, with darker, blackish central tail feathers, and in some races a more constricted supercilium behind the eye.
It is native to Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Tanzania. It is found in subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, including Juniper and Podocarpus forest, and in subtropical or tropical moist shrubland and gardens.
There are three races: Cossypha semirufa semirufa Range: Eritrea, Ethiopia, south-eastern South Sudan and northern Kenya Cossypha semirufa donaldsoni Sharpe, 1895 Description: Rufous collar almost complete, upperparts darker than nominate
Range: south-eastern Ethiopia and adjacent Somalia Cossypha semirufa intercedens (Cabanis, 1878) Range: central to south-eastern Kenya and northern Tanzania Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Aberdare National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Bale Mountains National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 5 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 6 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 7 | Lake Manyara National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Addis Ababa | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 2 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rüppell's Robin-Chat sighting in Mkomazi National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 214th most-seen of the 272 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–February, June and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rüppell's Robin-Chat in Mkomazi National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March–April, July–October and December, the lowest months. May has too few records to rate.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rüppell's Robin-Chat sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Rüppell's Robin-Chat sightings, Mkomazi National Park ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Arusha National Park (Tanzania, about 40%), Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 30%) and Aberdare National Park (Kenya, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rüppell's Robin-Chat is recorded against all the birds logged in Mkomazi National Park (9 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.
