Notopholia corrusca
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The black-bellied starling (Notopholia corusca) is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae, originally described by zoologist Alexander von Nordmann in 1835. It is found in Eswatini, Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
Their iris color changes by mood or behavior due to fluctuations in blood flow rates. Black-bellied (glossy) starling – Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-bellied Starling sighting in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park on a given day, based on 60 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 76th most-seen of the 220 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and October
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Black-bellied Starling in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park on a given day, against about 10% in January, April and June–September, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-bellied Starling 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 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Black-bellied Starling sightings, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park ranks 4th at about 20%. The best odds are in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa, about 40%), uMkhuze Game Reserve (South Africa, about 40%) and Garden Route National Park (South Africa, about 20%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Sturnidae
The closest relatives of the Black-bellied Starling that you can see in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park (family Sturnidae, Starlings) are Red-shouldered Glossy-starling (about 70%), Red-winged Starling (about 30%) and Violet-backed Starling (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-bellied Starling is recorded against all the birds logged in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park (60 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.
