Laniarius ruficeps
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The red-naped bushshrike or red-naped boubou (Laniarius ruficeps) is a species of bird in the family Malaconotidae, which is native to the dry lowlands of the eastern Afrotropics. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. Its natural habitat is subtropical and tropical dry shrubland, under 1,000 m (3,300 ft) above sea level.
It is a shy and skulking bird, that forages on the ground and in the lower strata of dense thickets and thornbush. It sings just after sunrise from a bushtop. They have various harsh and repetitive calls, which includes dueting.
There are three accepted subspecies: Laniarius ruficeps ruficeps (Shelley, 1885) – northern Somalia Description: Crown to hindneck bright orange-rufous to rufous-red, forecrown black Laniarius ruficeps rufinuchalis (Sharpe, 1895) – Ethiopia, central Somalia and Kenya
Description: Forecrown black Laniarius ruficeps kismayensis (Erlanger, 1901) – coastal Somalia and Kiunga, Kenya Description: Forecrown orange-red Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red-naped Bushshrike sighting in Tsavo West National Park on a given day, based on 87 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 153rd 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 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, April, June–July and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Red-naped Bushshrike in Tsavo West National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September, the lowest month.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red-naped Bushshrike sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Red-naped Bushshrike sightings, Tsavo West National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Tsavo East National Park (Kenya, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Red-naped Bushshrike is recorded against all the birds logged in Tsavo West National Park (87 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.
