Passer diffusus
Silhouette: Andrew Butko (modified) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
The southern grey-headed sparrow (Passer diffusus) is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae. It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the grey-headed sparrow. It is found in savanna and woodland in Angola and Zambia southwards into South Africa, where it is expanding its range and is kept as a caged bird, like its relative the white-rumped seedeater.
Media related to Passer diffusus at Wikimedia Commons Southern Grey-headed Sparrow at the Internet Bird Collection Southern Grey-headed Sparrow species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds Southern grey-headed sparrow Structured guide to the species in southern Africa Wikipedia →
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Gray-headed Sparrow sighting in Etosha National Park on a given day, based on 782 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 29th most-seen of the 260 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August and September
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Gray-headed Sparrow in Etosha National Park on a given day, against about 10% in March, the lowest month. Those are among Etosha National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 75 mm in January.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southern Gray-headed Sparrow sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 25
Of the 25 parks where we can rate Southern Gray-headed Sparrow sightings, Etosha National Park ranks 8th at about 40%. The best odds are in Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe, about 60%), Mana Pools National Park (Zimbabwe, about 50%) and uMkhuze Game Reserve (South Africa, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Passer
The closest relatives of the Southern Gray-headed Sparrow that you can see in Etosha National Park (genus Passer, True Sparrows) are Great Rufous Sparrow (about 20%) and Cape Sparrow (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Southern Gray-headed Sparrow is recorded against all the birds logged in Etosha National Park (782 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
