Euplectes albonotatus
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In 3 days ~10%
The white-winged widowbird (Euplectes albonotatus) is a species of passerine bird in the family Ploceidae native to Africa south of the Sahara. It is highly sexually dimorphic in its breeding season, during which the male's yellow plumage turns dark and he gains more white feathers, contrasting with the female's predominantly pale coloration. Three subspecies are recognised.
The white-winged widowbird was first described by the American ornithologist John Cassin in 1848. Hybrids with "red bishops", probably northern red bishop (E. franciscanus), have been reported in captivity. Non-captive interbreeding of race eques with nominate appears to occur in southern Tanzania, but they appear to stay segregated in Burundi and western Tanzania. A proposal has been made for race sassii, which is found along the northwestern shore of Lake Tanganyika. Alternate common names include: white-fronted/white-shouldered widowbird, white-winged/white-shouldered whydah, long-tailed black whydah. Wikipedia →
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-winged Widowbird sighting in Mana Pools National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 258th most-seen of the 275 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and February
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-winged Widowbird in Mana Pools National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April to December, the lowest months. Those are among Mana Pools National Park's wettest months, with about 230 mm of rain a month against almost none in August. March has too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-winged Widowbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
28th of 32
Of the 32 parks where we can rate White-winged Widowbird sightings, Mana Pools National Park ranks 28th at under 5%. The best odds are in Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 30%), Mkomazi National Park (Tanzania, about 30%) and uMkhuze Game Reserve (South Africa, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-winged Widowbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Mana Pools National Park (7 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.
