Crithagra sulphurata
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The brimstone canary or bully canary (Crithagra sulphurata) is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is a resident breeder in central and southern Africa. This species is found in open, lightly wooded habitats, such as hillsides with trees or scrub and forest edges. In South Africa it occurs mainly in coastal areas, inhabiting coastal bush, shrubs along streams, gardens, and areas with rank vegetation. It is not truly migratory, but undertakes some seasonal movements.
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the brimstone canary in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected at the Cape of Good Hope. He used the French name Le gros-bec du Cap de Bonne Espérance and the Latin Coccothraustes Capitis Bonae Spei. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the brimstone canary. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined... Wikipedia →
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brimstone Canary sighting in Lake Nakuru National Park on a given day, based on 104 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 157th most-seen of the 369 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Brimstone Canary in Lake Nakuru National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April and December–February, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brimstone Canary sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
9th of 25
Of the 25 parks where we can rate Brimstone Canary sightings, Lake Nakuru National Park ranks 9th at about 10%. The best odds are in Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 30%), Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa, about 30%) and Garden Route National Park (South Africa, about 20%).
Same genus: Crithagra
The closest relatives of the Brimstone Canary that you can see in Lake Nakuru National Park (genus Crithagra, African Seedeaters, Serins, Canaries, and Citrils) are Reichenow's Seedeater (about 10%), Streaky Seedeater (about 10%) and African Citril (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brimstone Canary is recorded against all the birds logged in Lake Nakuru National Park (104 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.
