Laniarius sublacteus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The East Coast boubou or Zanzibar boubou (Laniarius sublacteus) is a species of bird in the family Malaconotidae. It is found from southeast Somalia to northeast Tanzania, and Zanzibar island. Its natural habitat is moist savanna.
It has vestigial or no white wing stripe. Outer tail feathers may have white tips. Juveniles have no barring on underside. An all-black morph occurs in the area around the lower Jubba and Tana Rivers and on the Lamu Archipelago.
The East Coast boubou was formerly lumped with the tropical boubou, the black boubou, and the Ethiopian boubou. The species complex was split based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2008. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mikumi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Zanzibar Boubou sighting in Tsavo East National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 289th most-seen of the 345 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.
October
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Zanzibar Boubou in Tsavo East National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to September, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Zanzibar Boubou sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Zanzibar Boubou sightings, Tsavo East National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Mikumi National Park (Tanzania, under 5%).
Same genus: Laniarius
The closest relatives of the Zanzibar Boubou that you can see in Tsavo East National Park (genus Laniarius, Boubous and Gonoleks) are Slate-colored Boubou (about 40%) and Red-naped Bushshrike (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Zanzibar Boubou is recorded against all the birds logged in Tsavo East National Park (9 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.
