Bar-breasted Firefinch

Bar-breasted Firefinch

Lagonosticta rufopicta

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Murchison Falls National Park

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%

64 Verified sightings at Murchison Falls National Park From 2019 to 2026
74 In all 2 parks
June Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Bar-breasted Firefinch

The bar-breasted firefinch (Lagonosticta rufopicta) is a common species of estrildid finch found in western and central Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 2,900,000 km². The bar-breasted firefinch with a red head and breast and white barring or speckling on the breast. The forehead, lores and supercilium are deep red fading on the ear coverts, chin, throat and neck sides to less intensely red colour. The crown and most of the upperparts are greyish brown and rather uniform contrasting with deep red lower rump and upper tail coverts. Tail is darker brown than back with variable amounts of red near the base. Flight feathers are dark. The underparts below the crimson breast are buffy grey. Juveniles are much duller with red being confined to the rump and upper tail coverts. 11 cm in length.

The bar-breasted firefinch is found from the Gambia and southern Senegal east to western Uganda and eastern Kenya. The bar-breasted firefinch is a common bird of grassland, bush, acacia savanna and forest clearings but will also occur near settlements and in farmland, especially in damp areas. It occurs in pairs and... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Begging call0:57

Benin · 2019

© Bram Piot · XC454658 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:33

Ethiopia · 2015

© Andrew Spencer · XC278380 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call0:19

Ethiopia · 2011

© Jelmer Poelstra · XC83688 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Murchison Falls National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~10%
2 Niokolo-Koba National Park 🇸🇳 Senegal
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kumasi 🇬🇭 Ghana
~10%
2 Accra 🇬🇭 Ghana
~10%
3 Abuja 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~10%
4 Serrekunda 🇬🇲 Gambia
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Bar-breasted Firefinch in Murchison Falls National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bar-breasted Firefinch sighting in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, based on 64 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 196th most-seen of the 424 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Bar-breasted Firefinch in Murchison Falls National Park?

February, May–June and August–September

In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bar-breasted Firefinch in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March–April, July and October–January, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Bar-breasted Firefinch?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bar-breasted Firefinch sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Murchison Falls National Park the best place to see a Bar-breasted Firefinch?

Yes

Of the 2 parks where we can rate Bar-breasted Firefinch sightings, Murchison Falls National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal, under 5%).

Where does the Bar-breasted Firefinch sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Bar-breasted Firefinch is recorded against all the birds logged in Murchison Falls National Park (64 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.

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