Lonchura cucullata
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The bronze mannikin or bronze munia (Spermestes cucullata) is a small passerine (i.e. perching) bird of the Afrotropics. This very social estrildid finch is an uncommon to locally abundant bird in much of Africa south of the Sahara Desert, where it is resident, nomadic or irruptive in mesic savanna or forest margin habitats. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 23,600,000 km2 (9,100,000 sq mi). It is the smallest and most widespread of four munia species on the African mainland, the other being black-and-white, red-backed and magpie mannikin. It co-occurs with the Madagascar mannikin on the Comoro Islands, and was introduced to Puerto Rico. Especially in the West Africa, it is considered a pest in grain and rice fields. It is locally trapped for the pet bird trade.
The bronze mannikin was formally described in 1837 by the English naturalist William Swainson and given the binomial name Spermestes cucullata. The specific epithet is from Late Latin cucullatus meaning "hooded". The type locality is Senegal.
Two subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
Recording0:31
Botswana · 2020
© Dewald du Plessis · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:06
Gabon · 2021
© bureaubenjamin · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:11
South Africa · 2021
© Errol Douwes · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazzaville | 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | |
| 2 | Maputo | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 3 | Yaoundé | 🇨🇲 Cameroon | |
| 4 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 5 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 6 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 8 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 9 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 10 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Bronze Mannikin sighting in Ruaha National Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 260th most-seen of the 276 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.
March and April
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bronze Mannikin in Ruaha National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May to February, the lowest months. Those are among Ruaha National Park's wettest months, with about 120 mm of rain a month against almost none in June.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bronze Mannikin sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
32nd of 39
Of the 39 parks where we can rate Bronze Mannikin sightings, Ruaha National Park ranks 32nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 40%), Kibale National Park (Uganda, about 40%) and Semuliki National Park (Uganda, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Estrildidae
The closest relatives of the Bronze Mannikin that you can see in Ruaha National Park (family Estrildidae, Waxbills and Allies) are Green-winged Pytilia (about 50%), Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu (about 50%) and Red-billed Firefinch (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bronze Mannikin is recorded against all the birds logged in Ruaha National Park (5 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.
