Euplectes albonotatus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The white-winged widowbird (Euplectes albonotatus) is a species of passerine bird in the family Ploceidae native to Africa south of the Sahara. It is highly sexually dimorphic in its breeding season, during which the male's yellow plumage turns dark and he gains more white feathers, contrasting with the female's predominantly pale coloration. Three subspecies are recognised.
The white-winged widowbird was first described by the American ornithologist John Cassin in 1848. Hybrids with "red bishops", probably northern red bishop (E. franciscanus), have been reported in captivity. Non-captive interbreeding of race eques with nominate appears to occur in southern Tanzania, but they appear to stay segregated in Burundi and western Tanzania. A proposal has been made for race sassii, which is found along the northwestern shore of Lake Tanganyika. Alternate common names include: white-fronted/white-shouldered widowbird, white-winged/white-shouldered whydah, long-tailed black whydah. Wikipedia →
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-winged Widowbird sighting in Ngorongoro Conservation Area on a given day, based on 41 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 348th most-seen of the 519 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and April
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-winged Widowbird in Ngorongoro Conservation Area on a given day, against under 5% in May to February, the lowest months. Those are among Ngorongoro Conservation Area's wettest months, with about 130 mm of rain a month against almost none in July.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-winged Widowbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
26th of 32
Of the 32 parks where we can rate White-winged Widowbird sightings, Ngorongoro Conservation Area ranks 26th at under 5%. The best odds are in Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 30%), Mkomazi National Park (Tanzania, about 30%) and uMkhuze Game Reserve (South Africa, about 20%).
Same genus: Euplectes
The closest relatives of the White-winged Widowbird that you can see in Ngorongoro Conservation Area (genus Euplectes, Bishops and Widowbirds) are Fan-tailed Widowbird (about 20%), Red Bishop (about 10%) and Red-collared Widowbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-winged Widowbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Ngorongoro Conservation Area (41 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.
