Psophocichla litsitsirupa
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The groundscraper thrush (Turdus litsitsirupa) is a passerine bird of southern and eastern Africa belonging to the thrush family, Turdidae. It was previously considered the only member of the genus Psophocichla, but phylogenetic analysis supports it belonging in the genus Turdus, where it forms a sister group to the remaining Turdus species.
It is 22–24 centimetres (8.7–9.4 in) long with an erect posture, short tail, heavy bill and fairly long legs. The upperparts are plain grey-brown with a chestnut wing-panel. The underparts are white with black spots and the face is white with bold black markings. The underwing has a black and white pattern which is visible during the undulating flight. The bird has a slow whistled song and a clicking call.
It can be tame and will forage in parks, gardens and around picnic sites. The Ethiopian thrush (Turdus simensis) was formerly treated as a fourth subspecies, but is genetically as well as geographically distinct. The cup-shaped nest is built using vegetation and spider-webs and is lined with feathers or leaves. Three or four eggs are laid and are incubated for 14 to 15 days. They are bluish with lilac and red-brown spots and blotches. Wikipedia →
Recording0:11
South Africa · 2022
© Dewald du Plessis · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:28
South Africa · 2017
© Marion Maclean · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bale Mountains National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 2 | Waterberg Plateau Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 3 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Etosha National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 6 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Hwange National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 8 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 9 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 3 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Groundscraper Thrush sighting in Waterberg Plateau Park on a given day, based on 56 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 35th most-seen of the 118 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, August and October
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Groundscraper Thrush in Waterberg Plateau Park on a given day, against about 20% in February, May and September, the lowest months. April and June have too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Groundscraper Thrush sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Groundscraper Thrush sightings, Waterberg Plateau Park ranks 2nd at about 30%. The best odds are in Bale Mountains National Park (Ethiopia, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Groundscraper Thrush that you can see in Waterberg Plateau Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are African Red-eyed Bulbul (about 80%), Green-backed Camaroptera (about 70%) and Pale-winged Starling (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Groundscraper Thrush is recorded against all the birds logged in Waterberg Plateau Park (56 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.
