Monticola explorator
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The sentinel rock thrush (Monticola explorator) is a species of passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that is found in Lesotho, South Africa, and Eswatini. Its natural habitat is rocky outcrops in high-altitude grassland.
It is insectivorous. The sentinel rock thrush was formally described in 1818 by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot under the binomial name Turdus explorator. The specific epithet explorator is Latin meaning "scout", "explorer" or "searcher". Vieillot based his account on "L'Espionneur" from the mountains of the Cape of Good Hope that had been described and illustrated in 1802 by the French naturalist François Levaillant in his book Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux d'Afrique. The sentinel rock thrush is now one of 15 species placed in the genus Monticola that was introduced in 1822 by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden Gate Highlands National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Sentinel Rock-Thrush sighting in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 79 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 163rd most-seen of the 223 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Sentinel Rock-Thrush in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sentinel Rock-Thrush sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Sentinel Rock-Thrush sightings, Table Mountain National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Golden Gate Highlands National Park (South Africa, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sentinel Rock-Thrush is recorded against all the birds logged in Table Mountain National Park (79 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.
