Yellow-rumped Widowbird

Yellow-rumped Widowbird

Euplectes capensis

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Kigali

In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%

12 Verified sightings at Kigali
2,966 In all 30 parks From 2019 to 2026
June Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Yellow-rumped Widowbird

The yellow bishop (Euplectes capensis), also known as Cape bishop, Cape widow or yellow-rumped widow, is a resident breeding Afromontane bird species. This common weaver occurs in less arid vegetated areas, such as fynbos, moist grassland and bracken-covered valleys at altitudes from sea level to the Ethiopian Highlands.

In 1760, the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the yellow bishop in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected from the Cape of Good Hope. He used the French name Le pinçon du Cap de Bonne Espérance and the Latin Fringilla Capitis Bonae Spei. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the yellow bishop. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Loxia capensis and cited Brisson's work. The specific name capensis denotes the Cape of Good Hope. This species is now placed in the genus Euplectes... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:23

Zambia · 2026

© Magnus Wadstein · XC1101205 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:33

Congo (Democratic Republic) · 2018

© Robert Davis · XC401350 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:29

Burundi · 2025

© Bram Piot · XC972951 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Golden Gate Highlands National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~40%
2 West Coast National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~40%
3 De Hoop Nature Reserve 🇿🇦 South Africa
~30%
4 Bale Mountains National Park 🇪🇹 Ethiopia
~30%
5 Arusha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~30%
6 Volcanoes National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
~20%
7 Masai Mara National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
~20%
8 Lake Nakuru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
9 Ngorongoro Conservation Area 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
10 Mikumi National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
11 Gorongosa National Park 🇲🇿 Mozambique
~10%
12 Nairobi National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
13 Garden Route National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
14 Mkomazi National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
15 Table Mountain National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
16 Virunga National Park 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo
<5%
17 Liwonde National Park 🇲🇼 Malawi
<5%
18 Lake Manyara National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
19 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
20 Tarangire National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
21 Kafue National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
<5%
22 Aberdare National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
23 Tsavo West National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
24 Akagera National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
<5%
25 Amboseli National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
26 Serengeti National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
27 South Luangwa National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
<5%
28 Nyungwe National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
<5%
29 Queen Elizabeth National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
30 Kibale National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Dar es-Salaam 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
2 Harare 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~10%
3 Cape Town 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
4 Lusaka 🇿🇲 Zambia
<5%
5 Nairobi 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
6 Kigali 🇷🇼 Rwanda
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Yellow-rumped Widowbird in Kigali?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-rumped Widowbird sighting in Kigali on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 196th most-seen of the 244 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Yellow-rumped Widowbird in Kigali?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-rumped Widowbird in Kigali on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Yellow-rumped Widowbird?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-rumped Widowbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Kigali the best place to see a Yellow-rumped Widowbird?

6th of 6

Of the 6 cities where we can rate Yellow-rumped Widowbird sightings, Kigali ranks 6th at under 5%. The best odds are in Dar es-Salaam (Tanzania, about 10%), Harare (Zimbabwe, about 10%) and Cape Town (South Africa, under 5%).

Which relatives of the Yellow-rumped Widowbird live in Kigali?

Same genus: Euplectes

The closest relatives of the Yellow-rumped Widowbird that you can see in Kigali (genus Euplectes, Bishops and Widowbirds) are Fan-tailed Widowbird (about 40%) and Red Bishop (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Yellow-rumped Widowbird sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Yellow-rumped Widowbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Kigali (12 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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