Passer motitensis
Silhouette: Andrew Butko (modified) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The great sparrow (Passer motitensis), also known as the southern rufous sparrow, is found in southern Africa in dry, wooded savannah and towns. This is a 15–16 cm long sparrow superficially like a large house sparrow. It has a grey crown and rear neck and rufous upperparts.
While in the past some authorities considered this species and several related species of 'rufous sparrow' on the African mainland to be the same as the Iago sparrow of Cape Verde, they do not appear to be so closely related as thought. A few currently recognise only some of the rufous sparrows as separate from the great sparrow, but the Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International recognise the Socotra sparrow, Kenya sparrow, Kordofan sparrow, and Shelley's sparrow as separate species.
Southern Rufous Sparrow at the Internet Bird Collection Great Sparrow species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Etosha National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 2 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Namib-Naukluft National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luanda | 🇦🇴 Angola |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Great Rufous Sparrow sighting in Pilanesberg National Park on a given day, based on 46 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 140th most-seen of the 233 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Great Rufous Sparrow in Pilanesberg National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, June, October and December, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Great Rufous Sparrow sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Great Rufous Sparrow sightings, Pilanesberg National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Etosha National Park (Namibia, about 20%).
Same genus: Passer
The closest relatives of the Great Rufous Sparrow that you can see in Pilanesberg National Park (genus Passer, True Sparrows) are Southern Gray-headed Sparrow (about 30%) and Cape Sparrow (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Great Rufous Sparrow is recorded against all the birds logged in Pilanesberg National Park (46 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.
