Black-bellied Starling

Black-bellied Starling

Notopholia corrusca

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Mombasa

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%

20 Verified sightings at Mombasa
1,492 In all 6 parks From 2019 to 2026
May Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Black-bellied Starling

The black-bellied starling (Notopholia corusca) is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae, originally described by zoologist Alexander von Nordmann in 1835. It is found in Eswatini, Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.

Their iris color changes by mood or behavior due to fluctuations in blood flow rates. Black-bellied (glossy) starling – Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:28

South Africa · 2026

© JJSUN · XC1079972 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:52

Kenya · 2024

© Peter Boesman · XC948291 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Song0:22

South Africa · 2021

© Tim Cockcroft · XC654797 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 iSimangaliso Wetland Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~40%
2 uMkhuze Game Reserve 🇿🇦 South Africa
~40%
3 Garden Route National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
4 Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
5 Addo Elephant National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
6 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Durban 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
2 Dar es-Salaam 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
3 Mombasa 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
4 Zanzibar City 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Black-bellied Starling in Mombasa?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-bellied Starling sighting in Mombasa on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 103rd most-seen of the 146 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Black-bellied Starling in Mombasa?

May and August

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-bellied Starling in Mombasa on a given day, against under 5% in March, July and November–December, the lowest months. Those are among Mombasa's wettest months, with about 120 mm of rain a month against 15 mm in February.

What time of day is best to see a Black-bellied Starling?

Between 6 and 9 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-bellied Starling 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 Mombasa the best place to see a Black-bellied Starling?

3rd of 4

Of the 4 cities where we can rate Black-bellied Starling sightings, Mombasa ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Durban (South Africa, about 20%) and Dar es-Salaam (Tanzania, about 10%).

Where does the Black-bellied Starling sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Black-bellied Starling is recorded against all the birds logged in Mombasa (20 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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