Passer shelleyi
Silhouette: Andrew Butko (modified) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Shelley's sparrow (Passer shelleyi), also known as Shelley's rufous sparrow or the White Nile rufous sparrow, is a sparrow found in eastern Africa from South Sudan, southern Ethiopia, and north-western Somalia to northern Uganda and north-western Kenya. Formerly, it was considered as a subspecies of the Kenya sparrow. This species is named after English geologist and ornithologist George Ernest Shelley.
Summers-Smith, J. Denis (1988). The Sparrows: a study of the genus Passer. illustrated by Robert Gillmor. Calton, Staffs, England: T. & A. D. Poyser. ISBN 0-85661-048-8. White Nile rufous sparrow at the Internet Bird Collection Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Shelley's Rufous Sparrow sighting in Kidepo Valley National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 222nd most-seen of the 332 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.
March, September and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Shelley's Rufous Sparrow in Kidepo Valley National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–February, June–August and October–November, the lowest months. April and May have too few records to rate.
Between 5 and 8 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Shelley's Rufous Sparrow sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Shelley's Rufous Sparrow sightings, Kidepo Valley National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Murchison Falls National Park (Uganda, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Shelley's Rufous Sparrow is recorded against all the birds logged in Kidepo Valley National Park (14 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.
