Gymnoris dentata
Silhouette: Andrew Butko (modified) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The Sahel bush sparrow (Gymnoris dentata) or bush petronia, is a species of bird in the family Passeridae. It is found in Africa from Mauritania to Guinea and east to Eritrea and the south-western Arabian Peninsula in its natural habitats of dry savanna and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
The Sahel bush sparrow is a small bird with a large, conical beak and a short tail. It grows to a length of about 13 cm (5 in). The male has a grey crown, a wide but ill-defined reddish-brown supercilium and greyish-brown face and throat, surrounding the creamy-white bib. The male's beak is black during the breeding season but horn-coloured during the rest of the year. The plumage on the upper parts and tail is mainly brown, with no white on the tail. The upper throat has an ill-defined yellowish spot and the breast is creamy-buff, becoming whiter on the belly. The female is similar, but has a better-defined white supercilium, brownish rather than grey crown and face, horn-coloured beak all year round and two white wing bars. The juvenile is similar to the female.
This bush sparrow is found in suitable habitat in a broad belt across the Sahel... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bush Petronia sighting in Niokolo-Koba National Park on a given day, based on 24 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 151st most-seen of the 215 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.
November to February
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bush Petronia in Niokolo-Koba National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March–April and August–September, the lowest months. Those are among Niokolo-Koba National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 300 mm in August. May–July and October have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bush Petronia sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Niokolo-Koba National Park, in our data
Niokolo-Koba National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Bush Petronia sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bush Petronia is recorded against all the birds logged in Niokolo-Koba National Park (24 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.
