Atelornis crossleyi
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The rufous-headed ground roller (Atelornis crossleyi) is a species of bird in the ground roller family, Brachypteraciidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. There are currently five known species of ground rollers. Four of these species live in the eastern and central highland humid forests. Unlike the four other species, the fifth species lives in the dry southwestern spiny bushes of Madagascar. The Atelornis crossleyi species of the ground rollers lives with most of its family in humid forests. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the bird to be near-threatened because, although it is present in a number of protected areas, it is hunted for food and the forests in which it lives are threatened by slash-and-burn cultivation. The bird's scientific name commemorates Alfred Crossley who collected mammals, birds, butterflies and moths in Madagascar and Cameroon in the 1860s and 1870s. Many of these are in the Natural History Museum, London.
The sexes are similar in this distinctively-coloured bird about 25 cm (10 in) long. The head and breast are reddish-brown, the upper parts olive green and the underparts buff with darker markings. There is a narrow... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ranomafana National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Mantadia National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-headed Ground Roller sighting in Ranomafana National Park on a given day, based on 212 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 43rd most-seen of the 102 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-headed Ground Roller in Ranomafana National Park on a given day, against about 10% in March and August, the lowest months. January and June have too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-headed Ground Roller sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Yes
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Rufous-headed Ground Roller sightings, Ranomafana National Park has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Mantadia National Park (Madagascar, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rufous-headed Ground Roller is recorded against all the birds logged in Ranomafana National Park (212 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.
