Butastur rufipennis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The grasshopper buzzard (Butastur rufipennis), breeding in sub-Saharan Africa north of the equator. The grasshopper buzzard forms a superspecies with the white-eyed buzzard (Butastur teesa), rufous-winged buzzard (Butastur liventer), and grey-faced buzzard (Butastur indicus) all of which occur in Asia.
The adult grasshopper buzzard is grey brown above with a darker head and dark shaft streaks on all of its feathers. The feathers of the mantle and lesser coverts are narrowly with fringed rufous in fresh plumage, although this wears off. The grey tail has faint brown bars. The greater coverts and primary feathers are light rufous, the primaries are tipped with black, and form a conspicuous reddish patch in flight. The secondary feathers are rufous shading to dark brown towards the tip, which is white. The chin and throat are whitish, with three black streaks on either side of throat. The breast is rufous and has narrow shaft streaks of black, the belly and thighs are also rufous but lack markings. The axillary feathers are greyish brown, spotted with white or buff. The under wing coverts and wing lining are white. The eyes, legs, and cere are yellow. The... Wikipedia →
Call0:10
Cameroon · 1999
© selvino · XC156395 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 2 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maiduguri | 🇳🇬 Nigeria |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Grasshopper Buzzard sighting in Tsavo East National Park on a given day, based on 63 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 182nd most-seen of the 345 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and February
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Grasshopper Buzzard in Tsavo East National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May to November, the lowest months. Those are among Tsavo East National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 130 mm in November.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Grasshopper Buzzard sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Grasshopper Buzzard sightings, Tsavo East National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal, about 10%).
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the Grasshopper Buzzard that you can see in Tsavo East National Park (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are Bateleur (about 50%), Tawny Eagle (about 40%) and Eastern Chanting-Goshawk (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Grasshopper Buzzard is recorded against all the birds logged in Tsavo East National Park (63 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.
