Chamaetylas poliocephala
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The brown-chested alethe (Chamaetylas poliocephala) is a species of bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It has a discontinuous range of presence across the African tropical rainforest. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
The brown-chested alethe was formally described in 1850 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte based on a manuscript by Coenraad Temminck. Bonaparte gave the binomial name as Trichophorus (Griniger) and the locality as Africa. The locality has been restricted to the island of Bioko (formally Fernando Po). The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek polios meaning "grey" with -kephalos meaning "-headed". The brown-chested alethe is now one of four species placed in the genus Chamaetylas that was introduced in 1860 by Ferdinand Heine.
Nine subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-chested Alethe sighting in Queen Elizabeth National Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 418th most-seen of the 434 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-chested Alethe in Queen Elizabeth National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown-chested Alethe sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Brown-chested Alethe sightings, Queen Elizabeth National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Semuliki National Park (Uganda, about 10%) and Kibale National Park (Uganda, under 5%).
Same family: Muscicapidae
The closest relatives of the Brown-chested Alethe that you can see in Queen Elizabeth National Park (family Muscicapidae, Old World Flycatchers, Robins, and Chats) are White-browed Robin-Chat (about 40%), Northern Black-Flycatcher (about 40%) and Swamp Flycatcher (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown-chested Alethe is recorded against all the birds logged in Queen Elizabeth National Park (5 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.
