Ardeotis kori
Silhouette: TeaandBiology · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The kori bustard (Ardeotis kori) is the largest flying bird native to Africa. It is a member of the bustard family, which all belong to the order Otidiformes and are restricted in distribution to the Old World. It is one of the four species (ranging from Africa to India to Australia) in the large-bodied genus Ardeotis. The male kori bustard may be the heaviest living animal capable of flight.
This species, like most bustards, is a ground-dwelling bird and an opportunistic omnivore. Male kori bustards, which can be more than twice as heavy as the female, attempt to breed with as many females as possible and take no part in the raising of the young. The nest is a shallow hollow in the earth, often disguised by nearby obstructive objects such as trees.
English naturalist William John Burchell described the kori bustard in 1822. The specific epithet kori is derived from the Tswana name for this bird – Kgori. Two subspecies are currently recognized: Ardeotis kori kori – the relatively pale nominate race from Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, southern Angola, South Africa and Mozambique.
Ardeotis kori struthiunculus – the "Somali kori" distributed in Ethiopia, Uganda, South Sudan... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Etosha National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 2 | Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 4 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 5 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 6 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 7 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 8 | Hwange National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 9 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 10 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 11 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 12 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 13 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 14 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 15 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 16 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 17 | Waterberg Plateau Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 18 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 19 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 20 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 21 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pairi Daiza | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 2 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Diego Zoo Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Al Ain Zoo | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | |
| 5 | Living Desert Zoo and Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Johannesburg Zoo | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Birmingham Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Franklin Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Fort Worth Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Montgomery Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Blank Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Cameron Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Zoo Atlanta | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | bioparco | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 15 | Parc zoologique de Fréjus | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 16 | The Abilene Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Georgia Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Glen Echo Park Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Kori Bustard sighting in Tsavo West National Park on a given day, based on 89 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 172nd most-seen of the 380 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Kori Bustard in Tsavo West National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June, the lowest month.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Kori Bustard sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
16th of 21
Of the 21 parks where we can rate Kori Bustard sightings, Tsavo West National Park ranks 16th at about 10%. The best odds are in Etosha National Park (Namibia, about 60%), Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (South Africa, about 50%) and Ngorongoro Conservation Area (Tanzania, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Otididae
The closest relatives of the Kori Bustard that you can see in Tsavo West National Park (family Otididae, Bustards) are Buff-Crested Bustard (about 40%) and White-bellied Bustard (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Kori Bustard is recorded against all the birds logged in Tsavo West National Park (89 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.
