Chalcomitra senegalensis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The scarlet-chested sunbird (Chalcomitra senegalensis) is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is found in many areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, and from South Sudan to South Africa. It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The scarlet-chested sunbird is similar to Hunter's sunbird in appearance, with adult males having a characteristic red–scarlet coloured breast and an iridescent green patch on top of its head. The female is dark brown with no supercilium. It inhabits woodland and gardens, at elevations of up to 2,400 metres (7,900 ft). The bird is around 13–15 centimetres (5.1–5.9 in) in length, with males having a weight of 7.5–17.2 grams (0.26–0.61 oz) and females weighing 6.8–15.3 grams (0.24–0.54 oz).
In 1760, the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the...
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 4 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 7 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 8 | Lilongwe | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 9 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 10 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
Very likely
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Scarlet-chested Sunbird sighting in Mole National Park on a given day, based on 339 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 4th most-seen of the 266 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Scarlet-chested Sunbird in Mole National Park on a given day, against about 40% in June, the lowest month. That is one of Mole National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 220 mm in August. July has too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Scarlet-chested 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.
Yes
Of the 47 parks where we can rate Scarlet-chested Sunbird sightings, Mole National Park has the highest daily chance: about 70%. Next come Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 40%) and Selous Game Reserve (Tanzania, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Nectariniidae
The closest relatives of the Scarlet-chested Sunbird that you can see in Mole National Park (family Nectariniidae, Sunbirds and Spiderhunters) are Pygmy Sunbird (about 50%), Beautiful Sunbird (about 50%) and Western Violet-backed Sunbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Scarlet-chested Sunbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Mole National Park (339 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.
