Vidua chalybeata
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The village indigobird (Vidua chalybeata), also known as the steelblue widowfinch or (in U.S. aviculture) the Combassou finch, is a small songbird belonging to the family Viduidae. It is distinguishable from other indigobird species by bill and leg colours, the colour tinge of the male's breeding plumage, song, and to lesser extent, the nestling's plumage and mouth pattern. The bill colour can be red or white depending on the population, and there is some regional variation in the colour tone of the male's plumage.
It is a resident breeding bird in most of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. This indigobird is found in many open habitats including open woodland, scrub and cultivation, but, as its name implies, it is most readily seen near villages.
It is a brood parasite which lays its eggs in the nests of red-billed firefinches. Unlike the common cuckoo, it does not destroy the host's egg. Typically, 2-4 eggs are added to those already present. The eggs of both the host and the firefinch are white, although the indigobird's are slightly larger. The nestling indigobirds mimic the unique gape pattern of the fledglings of the host species... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 3 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 5 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 6 | N'Djamena | 🇹🇩 Chad | |
| 7 | Lusaka | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 8 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 9 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 10 | Lilongwe | 🇲🇼 Malawi |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bird Kingdom | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Village Indigobird sighting in Mombasa on a given day, based on 52 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 60th most-seen of the 146 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Village Indigobird in Mombasa on a given day, against about 10% in November and December, the lowest months. That is one of Mombasa's wettest months, with about 130 mm of rain against 15 mm in February.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Village Indigobird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 15 cities where we can rate Village Indigobird sightings, Mombasa has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Abuja (Nigeria, about 20%) and Nairobi (Kenya, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Village Indigobird is recorded against all the birds logged in Mombasa (52 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.
