Ploceus bicolor
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The dark-backed weaver (Ploceus bicolor), also known as the forest weaver, is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is very sparsely present across central and southern Sub-Saharan Africa. Dark-backed weaver - Species text in Weaver Watch.
(Dark-backed weaver = ) Forest weaver - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. image at ADW Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 4 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 5 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 6 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 8 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dark-backed Weaver sighting in Gorongosa National Park on a given day, based on 29 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 92nd most-seen of the 250 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–May, July and October–November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Dark-backed Weaver in Gorongosa National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August and September, the lowest months. Those are among Gorongosa National Park's driest months, with about 40 mm of rain a month against 210 mm in January. March and December–January have too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dark-backed Weaver sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Dark-backed Weaver sightings, Gorongosa National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa, about 40%), uMkhuze Game Reserve (South Africa, about 30%) and Nyungwe National Park (Rwanda, about 20%).
Same genus: Ploceus
The closest relatives of the Dark-backed Weaver that you can see in Gorongosa National Park (genus Ploceus, Typical Weavers) are Lesser Masked-Weaver (about 20%), Spectacled Weaver (about 10%) and Village Weaver (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Dark-backed Weaver is recorded against all the birds logged in Gorongosa National Park (29 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.
