Turdoides rubiginosa
Silhouette: Jiekun He · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The rufous chatterer (Argya rubiginosa) is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
This species was formerly placed in the genus Turdoides but following the publication of a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study in 2018, it was moved to the resurrected genus Argya. Collar, N. J. & Robson, C. 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers) pp. 70 – 291 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D.A. eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 5 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 6 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 7 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 8 | Lake Manyara National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 9 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 10 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 11 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 12 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous Chatterer sighting in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, based on 243 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 84th most-seen of the 341 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–May and October
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous Chatterer in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, against about 10% in March, the lowest month. Those are among Samburu National Reserve's wettest months, with about 55 mm of rain a month against 5 mm in September.
Between 5 and 8 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous Chatterer sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 12
Of the 12 parks where we can rate Rufous Chatterer sightings, Samburu National Reserve ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Meru National Park (Kenya, about 30%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Rufous Chatterer that you can see in Samburu National Reserve (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Superb Starling (about 80%), White-browed Sparrow-Weaver (about 70%) and White-headed Buffalo-Weaver (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rufous Chatterer is recorded against all the birds logged in Samburu National Reserve (243 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.
