Vidua funerea
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The name dusky indigobird can also refer to Vidua purpurascens. The dusky indigobird, variable indigobird, or black widowfinch (Vidua funerea) is a species of bird in the family Viduidae. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is moist savanna.
Dusky indigobird - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 2 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 4 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black Widowfinch sighting in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park on a given day, based on 24 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 155th most-seen of the 220 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Black Widowfinch in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park on a given day, against under 5% in April to November, the lowest months. That is one of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park's wettest months, with about 110 mm of rain against 15 mm in June.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black Widowfinch sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Black Widowfinch sightings, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Gorongosa National Park (Mozambique, about 10%).
Same genus: Vidua
The closest relatives of the Black Widowfinch that you can see in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park (genus Vidua, Indigobirds and Whydahs) are Pin-tailed Whydah (about 20%) and Long-tailed Paradise Whydah (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black Widowfinch is recorded against all the birds logged in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park (24 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.
