Passer diffusus
Silhouette: Andrew Butko (modified) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
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 →
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Gray-headed Sparrow sighting in Gorongosa National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 202nd most-seen of the 250 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.
April and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Gray-headed Sparrow in Gorongosa National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, May–June and August–November, the lowest months. Those are among Gorongosa National Park's driest months, with about 45 mm of rain a month against 210 mm in January. March and December–January have too few records to rate.
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.
25th of 25
Of the 25 parks where we can rate Southern Gray-headed Sparrow sightings, Gorongosa National Park ranks 25th at under 5%. 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.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Southern Gray-headed Sparrow is recorded against all the birds logged in Gorongosa National Park (8 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.
