Olive Sunbird

Olive Sunbird

Cyanomitra olivacea

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Durban

In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%

195 Verified sightings at Durban
2,215 In all 14 parks From 2019 to 2026
December Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Olive Sunbird

The olive sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea) is a large African species of sunbird belonging to the family Nectariniidae which encompasses species of sunbirds, spiderhunters, and flowerpeckers, and sugarbirds. It has a large distribution that spans across central Africa from western countries including Senegal, Guinea, and Angola towards eastern countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mozambique. This range also extends to southern African countries including South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is mainly nectarivorous and lives in a variety of forest, scrubland, and modified habitats.

The olive sunbird is a large sunbird that ranges from 6.2-15 g in mass, 50–73 mm in wing length, 20–29 mm in bill length, 35–66 mm in tail length, and 12–15 cm in overall body size depending on the subspecies and sex. Its body colouration can vary from fully dark-olive to dull-olive with a paler olive-yellow or olive-grey underside. It has a long beak that curves downward and varies in colour from solid black to mottled grey, beige, and yellow-orange depending on the subspecies. Yellowish-orange pectoral tufts can be present in the males and females found in eastern subspecies while only males... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Dawn song0:34

Ivory Coast · 2026

© Étienne Leroy · XC1186483 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:37

Kenya · 2024

© Peter Boesman · XC948151 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Song0:12

Kenya · 2020

© Colin Jackson · XC594595 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Semuliki National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~40%
2 iSimangaliso Wetland Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~40%
3 Kibale National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~30%
4 Arusha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~30%
5 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~30%
6 Taï National Park 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast
~20%
7 Nyungwe National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
~10%
8 Mkomazi National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
9 Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
10 Virunga National Park 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo
<5%
11 uMkhuze Game Reserve 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
12 Murchison Falls National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
13 Queen Elizabeth National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
14 Ngorongoro Conservation Area 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Mombasa 🇰🇪 Kenya
~30%
2 Durban 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
3 Yaoundé 🇨🇲 Cameroon
~10%
4 Kampala 🇺🇬 Uganda
~10%
5 Abidjan 🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire
~10%
6 Dar es-Salaam 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
7 Zanzibar City 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing an Olive Sunbird in Durban?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Olive Sunbird sighting in Durban on a given day, based on 195 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 38th most-seen of the 219 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see an Olive Sunbird in Durban?

December

In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Olive Sunbird in Durban on a given day, against about 10% in January to April, the lowest months. That is one of Durban's wettest months, with about 210 mm of rain against 25 mm in June.

What time of day is best to see an Olive Sunbird?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Olive Sunbird sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Durban the best place to see an Olive Sunbird?

2nd of 7

Of the 7 cities where we can rate Olive Sunbird sightings, Durban ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Mombasa (Kenya, about 30%).

Where does the Olive Sunbird sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Olive Sunbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Durban (195 verified sightings), 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.

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