Vidua purpurascens
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The purple indigobird (Vidua purpurascens) is a species of bird in the family Viduidae. It is a brood parasite and parasitizes (lays its eggs in the nest of) Jameson's Firefinch (Lagonosticta rhodopareia). It is also known as the dusky indigobird, a name which can refer to Vidua funerea. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.
Purple indigobird - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 2 | Gonarezhou National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 3 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 4 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | South Luangwa National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Purple Indigobird sighting in Kruger National Park on a given day, based on 188 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 259th most-seen of the 464 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.
January and February
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Purple Indigobird in Kruger National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March to December, the lowest months. Those are among Kruger National Park's wettest months, with about 100 mm of rain a month against almost none in August.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Purple Indigobird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Purple Indigobird sightings, Kruger National Park ranks 4th at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Liwonde National Park (Malawi, under 5%), Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe, under 5%) and Kafue National Park (Zambia, under 5%).
Same genus: Vidua
The closest relatives of the Purple Indigobird that you can see in Kruger National Park (genus Vidua, Indigobirds and Whydahs) are Long-tailed Paradise Whydah (about 10%), Pin-tailed Whydah (about 10%) and Village Indigobird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Purple Indigobird is recorded against all the birds logged in Kruger National Park (188 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.
