Dryoscopus gambensis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The northern puffback (Dryoscopus gambensis) is a species of bird in the family Malaconotidae. It is found in northern sub-Saharan Africa. It forms a superspecies with the black-backed puffback, which replaces it in eastern equatorial and southern Africa.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and moist savanna. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 2 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 4 | Volcanoes National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 5 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 7 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 8 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 9 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 10 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 11 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 12 | Bale Mountains National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 13 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 14 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 15 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 16 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 2 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 3 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Freetown | 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone | |
| 5 | Accra | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 6 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 7 | Addis Ababa | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 8 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Puffback sighting in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, based on 100 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 151st most-seen of the 424 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and August
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Puffback in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, April and November, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Puffback sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 16
Of the 16 parks where we can rate Northern Puffback sightings, Murchison Falls National Park ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal, about 30%), Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Uganda, about 30%) and Nyungwe National Park (Rwanda, about 20%).
Same family: Malaconotidae
The closest relatives of the Northern Puffback that you can see in Murchison Falls National Park (family Malaconotidae, Bushshrikes and Allies) are Black-headed Gonolek (about 50%), Black-crowned Tchagra (about 30%) and Sulphur-Breasted Bushshrike (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Puffback is recorded against all the birds logged in Murchison Falls National Park (100 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.
