Lamprotornis pulcher
Silhouette: Rafael Maia · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The chestnut-bellied starling (Lamprotornis pulcher) is a species of starling in the genus Lamprotornis in the family Sturnidae. This is a common resident in arid Sahelian acacia savanna, occurring in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, and Togo.
This is one of the rufous-bellied starlings, and the only one in most of its range. The pale eye differentiates it from Hildebrandt's starling and Shelley's starling, while the absence of a white breast band separates it from splendid starling. Predominantly glossy dark-green to blue, with a distinct dark (and not glossy) head and breast.
Birds of Africa South of Sahara, second edition; Ian Sinclair and Peter Ryan Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maiduguri | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 2 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Chestnut-bellied Starling sighting in Maiduguri on a given day, based on 72 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 12th most-seen of the 65 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Chestnut-bellied Starling in Maiduguri on a given day, against about 30% in July, the lowest month. That is one of Maiduguri's driest months, with almost no rain against 180 mm in August. November has too few records to rate.
Yes
Of the 2 cities where we can rate Chestnut-bellied Starling sightings, Maiduguri has the highest daily chance: about 50%. Next come Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso, about 10%).
Same genus: Lamprotornis
The closest relatives of the Chestnut-bellied Starling that you can see in Maiduguri (genus Lamprotornis, Glossy Starlings and Allies) are Greater Blue-eared Starling (about 90%), Long-tailed Glossy Starling (about 50%) and Lesser Blue-eared Glossy-starling (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Chestnut-bellied Starling is recorded against all the birds logged in Maiduguri (72 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.
