Batis ituriensis
Silhouette: Mathieu Pélissié · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The Ituri batis or Chapin's batis (Batis ituriensis) is a species of bird in the wattle-eye family, Platysteiridae which is found in the humid forests of eastern central Africa. The Ituri batis is a very small black and white bird, like a small shrike or old world flycatcher which is white below with a broad black breast band, a black head with a conspicuous white loral spot in front of a bright yellow eye. Black on the back and wings with a white strip on the wings and white outer tail feathers on an otherwise black tail. The female is similar to the male but has a thin white supercilium. Young birds are buffer above and greyer below. The Ituri batis has a body length of 9.5–10 cm (3.7–3.9 in).
The Ituri batis occurs in the eastern Congo Basin in Ituri and Itombwe in the north eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where it is uncommon and in the Budongo Forest in western Uganda where it is common. The Ituri batis is found in lowland forest, between 900 and 1,300 m (3,000 and 4,300 ft). It prefers degraded forest such as secondary forest, and cultivated areas with scattered tall trees, such as plantations, and avoiding primary rainforest... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Ituri Batis sighting in Semuliki National Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 259th most-seen of the 280 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Ituri Batis in Semuliki National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March to January, the lowest months. That is one of Semuliki National Park's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain against 140 mm in May.
Only Semuliki National Park, in our data
Semuliki National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Ituri Batis sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Platysteiridae
The closest relatives of the Ituri Batis that you can see in Semuliki National Park (family Platysteiridae, Wattle-eyes and Batises) are Chestnut Wattle-eye (about 40%), Jameson's Wattle-eye (about 30%) and Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ituri Batis is recorded against all the birds logged in Semuliki 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.
