Elminia albonotata
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The white-tailed crested flycatcher (Elminia albonotata) is a species of bird in the flycatcher family Stenostiridae. It has a discontinuous distribution in eastern Africa. The white-tailed crested flycatcher is a small (13 cm) crested flycatcher with a long tail. The wings and crest of are black, the rest of the plumage is grey overall with a white belly, rump and the underside of the tail. The bill is black, the eye dark brown and the legs grey. The call of this species is weak and unstructured.
Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical evergreen montane forest and surrounding shrubland and bamboo. It is found from 600 m to 1900 m in Tanzania's Udzungwa Mountains, and up to 2700 m elsewhere. Where its range overlaps with the closely related white-bellied crested flycatcher this species is found at higher altitudes and not below 2250 m, where its relative it is absent it ranges as low as 1200 m.
The diet of this species is not well studied, although like most flycatchers it feeds on invertebrates including flies, ants, moths and spiders. They travel in pairs or small family groups, sometimes joining mixed-species feeding flocks. During the breeding season pairs are territorial. They are monogamous, at the start of the season the male displays to the female using its tail and feeds the female. Two eggs are laid in a small nest in the fork of a branch, usually 2 m high in a tree, but up to 6 m. There is a division of labour between the pair, with the female undertaking all the incubation and the male feeding the chicks once they hatch. Chicks fledge after 15 days. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Volcanoes National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 2 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 3 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 4 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-tailed Crested-Flycatcher sighting in Virunga National Park on a given day, based on 24 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 181st most-seen of the 316 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June–July and September–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-tailed Crested-Flycatcher in Virunga National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August and November–May, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-tailed Crested-Flycatcher 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 4 parks where we can rate White-tailed Crested-Flycatcher sightings, Virunga National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Volcanoes National Park (Rwanda, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-tailed Crested-Flycatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Virunga National Park (24 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.
