Indicator minor
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The lesser honeyguide (Indicator minor) is a species of bird in the family Indicatoridae that is widely distributed across sub-Saharan Africa. Like other honeyguides, it is a brood parasite that lays eggs most commonly in the nests of African barbets, but will also occasionally use the nests of other birds as well, such as starlings and woodpeckers.
The lesser honeyguide was formally described in 1815 by the English naturalist James Francis Stephens under the binomial name Indicator minor. Stephens based his account on "Le petit indicator" that had been described and illustrated in 1806 by the French naturalist François Levaillant based on specimens collected near the Swartkops River in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
Eight subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 2 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Lusaka | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 4 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 6 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 8 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 9 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 10 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Honeyguide sighting in Pilanesberg National Park on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 191st most-seen of the 233 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.
January, June and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Honeyguide in Pilanesberg National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–May, July–August and October–December, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lesser Honeyguide sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
28th of 44
Of the 44 parks where we can rate Lesser Honeyguide sightings, Pilanesberg National Park ranks 28th at under 5%. The best odds are in Mkomazi National Park (Tanzania, about 20%), Meru National Park (Kenya, about 20%) and De Hoop Nature Reserve (South Africa, about 10%).
Same order: Piciformes
The closest relatives of the Lesser Honeyguide that you can see in Pilanesberg National Park (order Piciformes, Woodpeckers and Allies) are Black-collared Barbet (about 40%), Crested Barbet (about 30%) and Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lesser Honeyguide is recorded against all the birds logged in Pilanesberg National Park (11 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.
