Micronisus gabar
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The gabar goshawk (Micronisus gabar) is a small species of African and Arabian bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. The gabar goshawk is polymorphic and occurs in two distinct forms which fluctuate in relative abundance across the geographic range of the species. The more frequent, paler form has mostly grey upperparts with a conspicuous, white rump and white and grey barring on the chest, thighs and underwings, and a dark grey, barred tail. In contrast, the less frequent form, which accounts on average for approximately 25 percent of the overall population, is almost completely black. In both forms of adult the eyes are dark, and the legs are long and the cere is red. The cere and the legs are yellow in immatures and the plumage is generally browner, with the pale birds having untidier barring on the chest than the adult. The females are significantly larger than the males, the male's weigh 90 – 173g and the females 167 – 240g. The body length is 28–36 cm and the wingspan 63 cm.
The gabar goshawk is found in sub-Saharan Africa, extending to Arabian Peninsula. These subspecies are currently recognised: M. g. aequatorius: highlands... Wikipedia →
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Gabar Goshawk sighting in uMkhuze Game Reserve on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 232nd most-seen of the 283 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Gabar Goshawk in uMkhuze Game Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in August and October–June, the lowest months. Those are among uMkhuze Game Reserve's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 120 mm in February.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Gabar Goshawk sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
35th of 43
Of the 43 parks where we can rate Gabar Goshawk sightings, uMkhuze Game Reserve ranks 35th at under 5%. The best odds are in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (South Africa, about 30%), Etosha National Park (Namibia, about 20%) and Samburu National Reserve (Kenya, about 20%).
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the Gabar Goshawk that you can see in uMkhuze Game Reserve (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are White-backed Vulture (about 50%), Bateleur (about 40%) and Wahlberg's Eagle (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Gabar Goshawk is recorded against all the birds logged in uMkhuze Game Reserve (11 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.
