Dryoscopus gambensis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The northern puffback (Dryoscopus gambensis) is a species of bird in the family Malaconotidae. It is found in northern sub-Saharan Africa. It forms a superspecies with the black-backed puffback, which replaces it in eastern equatorial and southern Africa.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and moist savanna. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 2 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 4 | Volcanoes National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 5 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 7 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 8 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 9 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 10 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 11 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 12 | Bale Mountains National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 13 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 14 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 15 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 16 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 2 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 3 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Freetown | 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone | |
| 5 | Accra | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 6 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 7 | Addis Ababa | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 8 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Puffback sighting in Queen Elizabeth National Park on a given day, based on 38 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 262nd most-seen of the 434 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Puffback in Queen Elizabeth National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to October, the lowest months. That is one of Queen Elizabeth National Park's wettest months, with about 110 mm of rain against 15 mm in January.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Puffback sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
13th of 16
Of the 16 parks where we can rate Northern Puffback sightings, Queen Elizabeth National Park ranks 13th at under 5%. The best odds are in Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal, about 30%), Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Uganda, about 30%) and Nyungwe National Park (Rwanda, about 20%).
Same family: Malaconotidae
The closest relatives of the Northern Puffback that you can see in Queen Elizabeth National Park (family Malaconotidae, Bushshrikes and Allies) are Black-headed Gonolek (about 70%), Black-crowned Tchagra (about 20%) and Papyrus Gonolek (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Puffback is recorded against all the birds logged in Queen Elizabeth National Park (38 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.
