Cinnyris bifasciatus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The purple-banded sunbird (Cinnyris bifasciatus) is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The Tsavo sunbird, sometimes lumped with the purple-banded, is here considered a separate species. Purple-banded sunbird - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 4 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Lower Zambezi National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 6 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 7 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 8 | Mana Pools National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 9 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 10 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 11 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 12 | Mikumi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 13 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 14 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 15 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 16 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 17 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 18 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 19 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 20 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Luanda | 🇦🇴 Angola | |
| 4 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Lusaka | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 7 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Purple-banded Sunbird sighting in Durban on a given day, based on 127 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 57th most-seen of the 219 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May to July
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Purple-banded Sunbird in Durban on a given day, against under 5% in January to March, the lowest months. Those are among Durban's driest months, with about 35 mm of rain a month against 210 mm in January.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Purple-banded Sunbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 7
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Purple-banded Sunbird sightings, Durban ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Zanzibar City (Tanzania, about 40%), Dar es-Salaam (Tanzania, about 30%) and Luanda (Angola, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Purple-banded Sunbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Durban (127 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.
