Nilaus afer
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The brubru (Nilaus afer) is a species of bushshrike (family Malaconotidae) found in most of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is the only member of the genus Nilaus. Slight plumage and size variations reflect different ecological niches. The subspecies include:
Nilaus afer afer — West Africa, with distinctive male plumage Nilaus afer massaicus — East Africa, including northeastern Uganda Nilaus afer minor — East Africa, including Kenya and Tanzania Nilaus afer nigritemporalis — Katanga region of DRC and adjacent Zambia
Nilaus afer solivagus — Southern Africa and southern Zambia Its habitat is dry open woodland, but varies geographically. The six northern races and the subspecies N. a. Brubru of southern Africa are found in acacia and broadleaved woodland, whereas the three subspecies in a belt from northeastern Angola and northern Namibia east to Tanzania and northern Mozambique occur in Brachystegia miombo woodland.
The brubru is a small passerine, 12–15 cm long. The adult male of the nominate subspecies, N. a. afer, has a black crown, white supercilium and forehead...
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 2 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Brubru sighting in Mole National Park on a given day, based on 134 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 62nd most-seen of the 266 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and April
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Brubru in Mole National Park on a given day, against about 20% in February and June, the lowest months. Those are among Mole National Park's driest months, with about 40 mm of rain a month against 220 mm in August. July has too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brubru sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 43
Of the 43 parks where we can rate Brubru sightings, Mole National Park ranks 3rd at about 30%. The best odds are in Samburu National Reserve (Kenya, about 40%) and Mkomazi National Park (Tanzania, about 30%).
Same family: Malaconotidae
The closest relatives of the Brubru that you can see in Mole National Park (family Malaconotidae, Bushshrikes and Allies) are Yellow-crowned Gonolek (about 50%), Northern Puffback (about 50%) and Black-crowned Tchagra (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brubru is recorded against all the birds logged in Mole National Park (134 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.
