Cape White-eye

Cape White-eye

Zosterops virens

Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Pilanesberg National Park

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

61 Verified sightings at Pilanesberg National Park From 2019 to 2026
8,720 In all 11 parks
September Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Cape White-eye

The Cape white-eye (Zosterops virens) is a small passerine bird in the white-eye family. It is native to southern Africa. It is commonly found in suburbia, parks and gardens, besides a variety of mesic to well-watered habitats.

These subspecies interbreed where they come into contact. The Orange River white-eye (Z. pallidus) has been split from the Cape white-eye. This species is about 12 cm long with rounded wings, strong legs, and a conspicuous ring of white feathers round the eyes. The upperparts are green, and the throat and vent are bright yellow.

They are very vocal, and constantly keep in touch with soft trilled pee, pree or pirreee call notes. The song consists of repeated long jerky phrases of sweet reedy notes, varying in pitch, volume and... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:49

South Africa · 2025

© Tristan Spurway · XC1031081 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:42

South Africa · 2021

© Lynette Rudman · XC683140 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call0:42

South Africa · 2018

© Tim Cockcroft · XC411730 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Table Mountain National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~70%
2 Garden Route National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~70%
3 Golden Gate Highlands National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~50%
4 Addo Elephant National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
5 De Hoop Nature Reserve 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
6 West Coast National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
7 Pilanesberg National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
8 Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
9 iSimangaliso Wetland Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
10 uMkhuze Game Reserve 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
11 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Cape Town 🇿🇦 South Africa
~70%
2 Pretoria 🇿🇦 South Africa
~60%
3 Johannesburg 🇿🇦 South Africa
~50%
4 Durban 🇿🇦 South Africa
~50%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Cape White-eye in Pilanesberg National Park?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Cape White-eye sighting in Pilanesberg National Park on a given day, based on 61 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 84th most-seen of the 233 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Cape White-eye in Pilanesberg National Park?

September

In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Cape White-eye in Pilanesberg National Park on a given day, against about 10% in July–August and November–February, the lowest months. That is one of Pilanesberg National Park's driest months, with about 5 mm of rain against 130 mm in December.

What time of day is best to see a Cape White-eye?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cape White-eye sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Which relatives of the Cape White-eye live in Pilanesberg National Park?

Same order: Passeriformes

The closest relatives of the Cape White-eye that you can see in Pilanesberg National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Common Bulbul (about 70%), Fork-tailed Drongo (about 60%) and Pied Crow (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Cape White-eye sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Cape White-eye is recorded against all the birds logged in Pilanesberg National Park (61 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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