Saxicola torquatus
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The African stonechat or common stonechat (Saxicola torquatus) is a species of the Old World flycatcher family (Muscicapidae), inhabiting sub-Saharan Africa and adjacent regions. Like the other chats, it was long assigned to the thrush family (Turdidae), to which the chats are convergent. Its scientific name refer to its appearance and habitat and means "collared rock-dweller": Saxicola from Latin saxum ("rock") + incola ("one who dwells in a place"), torquatus, Latin for "collared".
In the past S. torquatus usually referred to the entire "common stonechat" superspecies and some sources still keep it that way, but all available evidence strongly supports full species status for the European (S. rubicola) and the Siberian stonechat (S. maurus) of temperate Eurasia, in addition to the island-endemics Fuerteventura chat (S. dacotiae) and Réunion stonechat (S. tectes) which were never unequivocally accepted into S. torquatus. The Madagascar stonechat (S. t. sibilla) has sometimes been considered distinct. In addition, the well-marked populations of the Horn of Africa uplands may well qualify for an additional species.
In 1760, the French zoologist Mathurin... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antananarivo | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 3 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 4 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an African Stonechat sighting in Pilanesberg National Park on a given day, based on 44 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 116th most-seen of the 233 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.
April and August
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report an African Stonechat in Pilanesberg National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–March and September–November, the lowest months. Those are among Pilanesberg National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against 130 mm in December.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Stonechat sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
21st of 32
Of the 32 parks where we can rate African Stonechat sightings, Pilanesberg National Park ranks 21st at about 10%. The best odds are in Golden Gate Highlands National Park (South Africa, about 70%), Mantadia National Park (Madagascar, about 50%) and Arusha National Park (Tanzania, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Muscicapidae
The closest relatives of the African Stonechat that you can see in Pilanesberg National Park (family Muscicapidae, Old World Flycatchers, Robins, and Chats) are Mariqua Flycatcher (about 40%), Kalahari Scrub Robin (about 30%) and White-Throated Robin-Chat (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the African Stonechat is recorded against all the birds logged in Pilanesberg National Park (44 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.
