Black-faced Quailfinch

Black-faced Quailfinch

Ortygospiza atricollis

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Kafue National Park

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%

40 Verified sightings at Kafue National Park From 2019 to 2026
1,359 In all 16 parks
January Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Black-faced Quailfinch

The black-faced quailfinch (Ortygospiza atricollis atricollis), is a common subspecies of estrildid finch found in western and central of Africa. Some taxonomists consider it to be conspecific with the African quailfinch, others consider all three species to be conspecific.

BirdLife Species Factsheet Quail Finch/Black-faced quailfinch - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. African Quailfinch (Ortygospiza atricollis) - Species page in Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:17

Zambia · 2022

© Dries Van de Loock · XC758508 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Flight call0:12

South Africa · 2021

© Lynette Rudman · XC648492 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:49

Mozambique · 2016

© Jude Allport · XC316699 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Nairobi National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~20%
2 Masai Mara National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
3 Kafue National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~10%
4 Kidepo Valley National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~10%
5 Queen Elizabeth National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~10%
6 Serengeti National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
7 Ngorongoro Conservation Area 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
8 Murchison Falls National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
9 Hwange National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
<5%
10 Amboseli National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
11 Samburu National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
12 Moremi Game Reserve 🇧🇼 Botswana
<5%
13 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
14 Lake Nakuru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
15 Etosha National Park 🇳🇦 Namibia
<5%
16 Chobe National Park 🇧🇼 Botswana
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Zoo Pilsen 🇨🇿 Czechia In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Black-faced Quailfinch in Kafue National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-faced Quailfinch sighting in Kafue National Park on a given day, based on 40 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 187th most-seen of the 338 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Black-faced Quailfinch in Kafue National Park?

January and June

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-faced Quailfinch in Kafue National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, April–May, July and November–December, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Black-faced Quailfinch?

Between 10 am and 1 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-faced Quailfinch sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Kafue National Park the best place to see a Black-faced Quailfinch?

3rd of 16

Of the 16 parks where we can rate Black-faced Quailfinch sightings, Kafue National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 20%) and Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya, about 10%).

Which relatives of the Black-faced Quailfinch live in Kafue National Park?

Same family: Estrildidae

The closest relatives of the Black-faced Quailfinch that you can see in Kafue National Park (family Estrildidae, Waxbills and Allies) are Blue-breasted Cordonbleu (about 40%), Red-billed Firefinch (about 20%) and Peters's Twinspot (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Black-faced Quailfinch sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Black-faced Quailfinch is recorded against all the birds logged in Kafue National Park (40 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.

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