Chamaetylas poliocephala
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
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 |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-chested Alethe sighting in Semuliki National Park on a given day, based on 59 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 107th most-seen of the 280 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and September
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-chested Alethe in Semuliki National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July, the lowest month.
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.
Yes
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Brown-chested Alethe sightings, Semuliki National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Kibale National Park (Uganda, under 5%) and Queen Elizabeth National Park (Uganda, under 5%).
Same family: Muscicapidae
The closest relatives of the Brown-chested Alethe that you can see in Semuliki National Park (family Muscicapidae, Old World Flycatchers, Robins, and Chats) are Grey-throated Flycatcher (about 10%), Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat (about 10%) and Ashy Alseonax (about 10%), 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 Semuliki National Park (59 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.
