Rufous-tailed Weaver

Rufous-tailed Weaver

Histurgops ruficauda

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~40% · Likely
at Ngorongoro Conservation Area

In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%

1,071 Verified sightings at Ngorongoro Conservation Area From 2019 to 2026
3,141 In all 5 parks
April Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Rufous-tailed Weaver

The rufous-tailed weaver (Histurgops ruficauda) is a species of songbird found in Tanzania. It is included in the weaver family (Ploceidae), but many authors included it in the Old World sparrow family Passeridae when Old World sparrows were separated from the weavers proper. It is placed in the monotypic genus Histurgops.

It is an endemic breeder in Tanzania, but vagrants occur in Kenya too. Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:13

Tanzania · 2022

© isaac kilusu · XC767579 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:26

Tanzania · 2011

© Stein Ø. Nilsen · XC307339 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Flight call0:16

Tanzania · 2017

© Frank Lambert · XC429953 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Tarangire National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~40%
2 Ngorongoro Conservation Area 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~40%
3 Serengeti National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~40%
4 Masai Mara National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
5 Lake Manyara National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Rufous-tailed Weaver in Ngorongoro Conservation Area?

Likely

About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-tailed Weaver sighting in Ngorongoro Conservation Area on a given day, based on 1,071 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 18th most-seen of the 519 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Rufous-tailed Weaver in Ngorongoro Conservation Area?

April and August–September

In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-tailed Weaver in Ngorongoro Conservation Area on a given day, against about 30% in December and January, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Rufous-tailed Weaver?

Between 11 am and 2 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-tailed Weaver sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Ngorongoro Conservation Area the best place to see a Rufous-tailed Weaver?

Among the best

Of the 5 parks where we can rate Rufous-tailed Weaver sightings, Ngorongoro Conservation Area ranks 2nd at about 40%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Tarangire National Park (Tanzania, about 40%).

Which relatives of the Rufous-tailed Weaver live in Ngorongoro Conservation Area?

Same family: Passeridae

The closest relatives of the Rufous-tailed Weaver that you can see in Ngorongoro Conservation Area (family Passeridae, Old World Sparrows) are Kenya Rufous Sparrow (about 20%), Swahili Sparrow (about 20%) and Gray-headed Social-Weaver (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Rufous-tailed Weaver sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Rufous-tailed Weaver is recorded against all the birds logged in Ngorongoro Conservation Area (1,071 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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