Urocolius macrourus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The blue-naped mousebird (Urocolius macrourus), also formerly called the blue-naped coly (Colius macrourus) is a species of bird belonging to the family Coliidae within the order Coliiformes. They are the sister group to the clade Eucavitaves, which contains the families Leptosomiformes (the cuckoo roller), Trogoniformes (trogons), Bucerotiformes (hornbills and hoopoes), Piciformes (woodpeckers, toucans, and barbets) and Coraciformes (kingfishers, bee-eaters, rollers, motmots, and todies).
The species is found in the wild in the drier regions of West Africa to East Africa, as well as Sahel. It is one of the remaining six species of mousebirds. The term "mousebird" comes from its habit of running along branches in a way that resembles the scurrying of a mouse.
There are a total of six recognized subspecies: Urocolius macrourus macrourus (Distribution: Senegambia to east Ethiopia) Urocolius macrourus syntactus (Distribution: Sahel from Mali, southern Niger, and northern Nigeria east to Sudan, Eritrea, and northern Ethiopia)
Urocolius macrourus laeneni (Distribution: Aïr Massif, in NC Niger.) Urocolius macrourus pulcher (Distribution: extreme South East South Sudan, Eastern... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 3 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 5 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 8 | Lake Manyara National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 9 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 10 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 11 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 12 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 13 | Ruaha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 14 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 15 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 16 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 17 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 18 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 19 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 20 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 21 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 22 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 23 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Basel Zoo | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 3 | North Carolina Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Memphis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Tierwelt Herberstein | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 6 | Schönbrunn Zoo | 🇦🇹 Austria |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-naped Mousebird sighting in Ngorongoro Conservation Area on a given day, based on 158 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 227th most-seen of the 519 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and May
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-naped Mousebird in Ngorongoro Conservation Area on a given day, against under 5% in June–August and October–January, the lowest months. Those are among Ngorongoro Conservation Area's wettest months, with about 120 mm of rain a month against almost none in July.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue-naped Mousebird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
19th of 23
Of the 23 parks where we can rate Blue-naped Mousebird sightings, Ngorongoro Conservation Area ranks 19th at about 10%. The best odds are in Lake Mburo National Park (Uganda, about 50%), Akagera National Park (Rwanda, about 50%) and Tsavo West National Park (Kenya, about 40%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue-naped Mousebird is recorded against all the birds logged in Ngorongoro Conservation Area (158 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.
