Hedydipna collaris
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The collared sunbird (Hedydipna collaris) is a bird species of the family Nectariniidae. The sunbirds are a group of very small Old World passerine birds which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. The collared sunbird is in fact mainly insectivorous.
Sunbird flight is fast and direct on their short wings. Most species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed most of the time. The collared sunbird is a common breeder across most of sub-Saharan Africa. Two or three eggs are laid in a suspended nest in a tree. It is a seasonal bird migrant within its range.
Collared sunbirds are tiny, only 9–10 cm (3.5–3.9 in) long. They have short thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to nectar feeding. The adult male has glossy green upperparts and head with a yellow belly and narrow purple breast band. The female is a duller green above and entirely yellow below.
This species inhabits forests near water. Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1 Collared sunbird - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Lusaka | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 4 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Abidjan | 🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire | |
| 8 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 9 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 10 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Collared Sunbird sighting in Masai Mara National Reserve on a given day, based on 246 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 152nd most-seen of the 398 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–March, May–June and September–December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Collared Sunbird in Masai Mara National Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in January, April and July–August, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Collared Sunbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
23rd of 43
Of the 43 parks where we can rate Collared Sunbird sightings, Masai Mara National Reserve ranks 23rd at about 10%. The best odds are in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa, about 40%), Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Uganda, about 40%) and Arusha National Park (Tanzania, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Nectariniidae
The closest relatives of the Collared Sunbird that you can see in Masai Mara National Reserve (family Nectariniidae, Sunbirds and Spiderhunters) are Mariqua Sunbird (about 20%), Scarlet-chested Sunbird (about 10%) and Variable Sunbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Collared Sunbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Masai Mara National Reserve (246 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.
