Euplectes albonotatus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The white-winged widowbird (Euplectes albonotatus) is a species of passerine bird in the family Ploceidae native to Africa south of the Sahara. It is highly sexually dimorphic in its breeding season, during which the male's yellow plumage turns dark and he gains more white feathers, contrasting with the female's predominantly pale coloration. Three subspecies are recognised.
The white-winged widowbird was first described by the American ornithologist John Cassin in 1848. Hybrids with "red bishops", probably northern red bishop (E. franciscanus), have been reported in captivity. Non-captive interbreeding of race eques with nominate appears to occur in southern Tanzania, but they appear to stay segregated in Burundi and western Tanzania. A proposal has been made for race sassii, which is found along the northwestern shore of Lake Tanganyika. Alternate common names include: white-fronted/white-shouldered widowbird, white-winged/white-shouldered whydah, long-tailed black whydah. Wikipedia →
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-winged Widowbird sighting in Nairobi on a given day, based on 55 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 111th most-seen of the 234 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August, October and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-winged Widowbird in Nairobi on a given day, against under 5% in January–July, September and November, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-winged Widowbird 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 3
Of the 3 cities where we can rate White-winged Widowbird sightings, Nairobi ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Harare (Zimbabwe, about 10%) and Pretoria (South Africa, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-winged Widowbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Nairobi (55 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.
