Buteo oreophilus
Silhouette: Lauren Anderson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The mountain buzzard (Buteo oreophilus) is a bird of prey that lives in montane forests in East Africa, it and the forest buzzard (Buteo trizonatus) of southern Africa were, until recently, considered to be a single species.
A small buzzard and quite similar to the steppe buzzard Buteo buteo vulpinus, the migratory subspecies of the Palearctic common buzzard which winters over most of Africa. The adult has brown upperparts with paler underparts with heavy brown blotches on the breast, belly, flanks and underwing coverts. The underside of the flight feathers is barred with a distinct black band along the rear edge of the wing. The tail is brown above, light grey below and shows faint narrow bars which are broadest just before the tail tip. Juveniles are buffier below and less heavily marked than the adults.
The mountain buzzard occurs in the mountainous regions of eastern Africa from Ethiopia, west through Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Rwanda to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo then south into Tanzania, Burundi and Malawi.
This species occurs in montane forest and fragments of montane forest, including plantations of exotic trees... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aberdare National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Volcanoes National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 4 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Bale Mountains National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 6 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 7 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 8 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 9 | Lake Manyara National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 10 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Buzzard sighting in Ngorongoro Conservation Area on a given day, based on 115 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 245th 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 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–February and September–November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Buzzard in Ngorongoro Conservation Area on a given day, against under 5% in March–August and December, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mountain Buzzard sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 10
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Mountain Buzzard sightings, Ngorongoro Conservation Area ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Aberdare National Park (Kenya, about 30%), Arusha National Park (Tanzania, about 20%) and Volcanoes National Park (Rwanda, about 10%).
Same genus: Buteo
The closest relatives of the Mountain Buzzard that you can see in Ngorongoro Conservation Area (genus Buteo, Buteos) are Augur Buzzard (about 60%) and Common Buzzard (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mountain Buzzard is recorded against all the birds logged in Ngorongoro Conservation Area (115 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.
