Crithagra sulphurata
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
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 →
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brimstone Canary sighting in Masai Mara National Reserve on a given day, based on 119 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 204th most-seen of the 398 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–April, August and October–December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brimstone Canary in Masai Mara National Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in January–February, May–July and September, 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.
15th of 25
Of the 25 parks where we can rate Brimstone Canary sightings, Masai Mara National Reserve ranks 15th at under 5%. 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 Masai Mara National Reserve (genus Crithagra, African Seedeaters, Serins, Canaries, and Citrils) are Yellow-fronted Canary (about 40%), White-bellied Canary (about 10%) and Reichenow's Seedeater (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 Masai Mara National Reserve (119 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.
