Halcyon senegalensis
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The woodland kingfisher (Halcyon senegalensis) is a tree kingfisher that is widely distributed in Africa south of the Sahara. The Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus included the woodland kingfisher with the binomial name Alcedo senegalensis in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae which was published in 1766. Linnaeus based his formal description on "Le Grand Martin-Pescher du Sénégal" that the French naturalist Mathurin Jacques Brisson had described and illustrated in 1760. The current genus Halcyon was introduced by the English naturalist and artist William Swainson in 1821, with the woodland kingfisher as the type species.
Three subspecies are recognised: This is a medium-sized kingfisher, 23 cm (9.1 in) in length. The adult has a bright blue back, wing panel and tail. Its head, neck and underparts are white, and its shoulders are black. The flight of the woodland kingfisher... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazzaville | 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | |
| 2 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Accra | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 4 | Yaoundé | 🇨🇲 Cameroon | |
| 5 | Abidjan | 🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire | |
| 6 | Monrovia | 🇱🇷 Liberia | |
| 7 | Bujumbura | 🇧🇮 Burundi | |
| 8 | Lagos | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 9 | Maiduguri | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 10 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valencia Bioparc | 🇪🇸 Spain |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Woodland Kingfisher sighting in Virunga National Park on a given day, based on 81 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 50th most-seen of the 316 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April to June
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Woodland Kingfisher in Virunga National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September, the lowest month. Those are among Virunga National Park's wettest months, with about 210 mm of rain a month against 15 mm in January.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Woodland Kingfisher sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
15th of 35
Of the 35 parks where we can rate Woodland Kingfisher sightings, Virunga National Park ranks 15th at about 20%. The best odds are in Semuliki National Park (Uganda, about 70%), Lake Mburo National Park (Uganda, about 60%) and Akagera National Park (Rwanda, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Halcyon
The closest relatives of the Woodland Kingfisher that you can see in Virunga National Park (genus Halcyon, Typical Woodland Kingfishers) are Gray-headed Kingfisher (about 10%), Blue-breasted Kingfisher (about 10%) and Striped Kingfisher (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Woodland Kingfisher is recorded against all the birds logged in Virunga National Park (81 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.
