Lagonosticta rufopicta
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
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 →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kumasi | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 2 | Accra | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 3 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 4 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Bar-breasted Firefinch sighting in Niokolo-Koba National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 188th most-seen of the 215 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bar-breasted Firefinch in Niokolo-Koba National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, March–April, August–September and November, the lowest months. Those are among Niokolo-Koba National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 300 mm in August. May–July and October have too few records to rate.
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.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Bar-breasted Firefinch sightings, Niokolo-Koba National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Murchison Falls National Park (Uganda, about 10%).
Same genus: Lagonosticta
The closest relatives of the Bar-breasted Firefinch that you can see in Niokolo-Koba National Park (genus Lagonosticta, Firefinches) are Red-billed Firefinch (about 60%) and Black-faced Firefinch (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bar-breasted Firefinch is recorded against all the birds logged in Niokolo-Koba National Park (10 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.
