Pytilia afra
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The orange-winged pytilia (Pytilia afra), also known as the golden-backed pytilia, is a species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed it as being of least concern.
The orange-winged pytilia was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the finches in the genus Fringilla and coined the binomial name Fringilla afra. Gmelin gave the locality as Angola. The specific epithet is from Latin afer meaning "Africa". Gmelin based his account on the "red-faced finch" that had been described and illustrated in 1776 by the English naturalist Peter Brown. The orange-winged pytilia is now one of five pytilias placed in the genus Pytilia that was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist William Swainson. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
The orange-winged pytilia is 11 cm (4.3 in) long and weighs 14–15 g (0.49–0.53 oz). The male's forehead, face and chin are red, and its crown and nape are grey. Its back is green, with an olive tinge.... Wikipedia →
Call0:06
Tanzania · 2014
© Thibaut Chansac · XC200765 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Mikumi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 5 | Hwange National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 6 | South Luangwa National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berlin Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Aquarium Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Orange-winged Pytilia sighting in Meru National Park on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 151st most-seen of the 243 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Orange-winged Pytilia in Meru National Park on a given day, against about 10% in June, September–October and December–March, the lowest months. Those are among Meru National Park's wettest months, with about 190 mm of rain a month against almost none in July. May and July–August have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Orange-winged Pytilia sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Orange-winged Pytilia sightings, Meru National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Mikumi National Park (Tanzania, about 10%) and Kidepo Valley National Park (Uganda, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Orange-winged Pytilia is recorded against all the birds logged in Meru National Park (15 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.
