Cinnyris venustus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The variable sunbird or yellow-bellied sunbird (Cinnyris venustus), formerly Nectarinia venusta, is a sunbird. The sunbirds are a group of small Old World passerine birds which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. Flight is fast and direct on their short wings. Most species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed most of the time.
The variable sunbird is a fairly common resident breeder in equatorial Africa. Two eggs are laid in a suspended nest in a tree. This species is found in open woodland and cultivation. Variable sunbirds are small, only 10 cm long. They have medium-length thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to their nectar feeding.
The adult male has a glossy green head, throat and nape, and a maroon breast band. In most subspecies, the belly of the male is yellow, but in a few it is orange or white. The female has grey-brown upperparts and yellowish underparts, and an obvious pale supercilium. The eclipse male is like the female, but shows some green, especially on the throat. The call is a clear tew-tew-tew-tew-tew. Wikipedia →
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wilhelma | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Papiliorama | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Variable Sunbird sighting in Harare on a given day, based on 439 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 10th most-seen of the 213 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Variable Sunbird in Harare on a given day, against about 50% in November and December, the lowest months. That is one of Harare's driest months, with about 5 mm of rain against 200 mm in December.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Variable 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 16
Of the 16 cities where we can rate Variable Sunbird sightings, Harare ranks 4th at about 60%. The best odds are in Lusaka (Zambia, about 80%), Nairobi (Kenya, about 70%) and Abuja (Nigeria, about 70%).
Same genus: Cinnyris
The closest relatives of the Variable Sunbird that you can see in Harare (genus Cinnyris, Cinnyris Sunbirds) are Eastern Miombo Sunbird (about 20%) and White-breasted Sunbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Variable Sunbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Harare (439 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.
