Indicator minor
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The lesser honeyguide (Indicator minor) is a species of bird in the family Indicatoridae that is widely distributed across sub-Saharan Africa. Like other honeyguides, it is a brood parasite that lays eggs most commonly in the nests of African barbets, but will also occasionally use the nests of other birds as well, such as starlings and woodpeckers.
The lesser honeyguide was formally described in 1815 by the English naturalist James Francis Stephens under the binomial name Indicator minor. Stephens based his account on "Le petit indicator" that had been described and illustrated in 1806 by the French naturalist François Levaillant based on specimens collected near the Swartkops River in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
Eight subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 2 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Lusaka | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 4 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 6 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 8 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 9 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 10 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Honeyguide sighting in Lusaka on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 64th most-seen of the 87 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Honeyguide in Lusaka on a given day, against under 5% in August–September and November–June, the lowest months. Those are among Lusaka's driest months, with about 5 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 Lesser Honeyguide sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 10
Of the 10 cities where we can rate Lesser Honeyguide sightings, Lusaka ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Harare (Zimbabwe, about 10%) and Pretoria (South Africa, about 10%).
Same order: Piciformes
The closest relatives of the Lesser Honeyguide that you can see in Lusaka (order Piciformes, Woodpeckers and Allies) are Black-collared Barbet (about 30%), Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird (about 30%) and Crested Barbet (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lesser Honeyguide is recorded against all the birds logged in Lusaka (8 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.
