Euodice cantans
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The African silverbill (Euodice cantans) is a small passerine bird formerly considered conspecific with the Asian species Indian silverbill, (Euodice malabarica). This estrildid finch is a common resident breeding bird in dry savanna habitat, south of the Sahara Desert. This species has also been introduced to other countries such as Portugal, Qatar and United States.
The African silverbill was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin under the binomial name Loxia cantans. The specific epithet is from Latin and means "singing". Gmemlin specified the locality as Africa but this was restricted to Dakar in Senegal by William Lutley Sclater and Cyril Mackworth-Praed in 1918. It is now placed with the Indian silverbill in the genus Euodice that was introduced in 1862 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach.
In early literature, the African silverbill and the Indian silverbill (E. malabarica) were treated as conspecific. In 1943, Jean Théodore Delacour united both species in his revision of the Estrildinae. However, in 1964, Colin Harrison studied the two in a strictly comparative manner and concluded that they were two separate species... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 2 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 5 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 8 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 2 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 3 | Maiduguri | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 4 | N'Djamena | 🇹🇩 Chad | |
| 5 | Addis Ababa | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 6 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Tierwelt Herberstein | 🇦🇹 Austria |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an African Silverbill sighting in Maiduguri on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 40th most-seen of the 65 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report an African Silverbill in Maiduguri on a given day, against about 10% in February–March, June–July and September–October, the lowest months. That is one of Maiduguri's driest months, with almost no rain against 180 mm in August. November has too few records to rate.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Silverbill 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 6
Of the 6 cities where we can rate African Silverbill sightings, Maiduguri ranks 3rd at about 20%. The best odds are in Dakar (Senegal, about 50%) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso, about 20%).
Same family: Estrildidae
The closest relatives of the African Silverbill that you can see in Maiduguri (family Estrildidae, Waxbills and Allies) are Red-billed Firefinch (about 50%), Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu (about 40%) and Black-rumped Waxbill (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the African Silverbill is recorded against all the birds logged in Maiduguri (19 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.
