Pytilia melba
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The green-winged pytilia (Pytilia melba) is a small colourful seed-eating bird in the family Estrildidae. It is widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, though it is more rarely seen in central, far southern and coastal western parts of the continent.
The green-winged pytilia was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla melba. No explanation was provided for the specific epithet melba but it could possibly be from a supposed Chinese word or place. Linnaeus based his description on "The Green Gold-Finch" that had been described and illustrated in 1750 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Edwards was uncertain of the origin of his specimen and Linnaeus mistakenly specified the locality as China. The specimen was subsequently assumed to be from Angola, but this was restricted to Luanda in Angola by Phillip Clancey in 1962.
The green-winged pytilia is now placed in the genus Pytilia that was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist William Swainson for the red-winged pytilia. Eight subspecies are recognised: P. m.... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 2 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 3 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 4 | Lusaka | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 5 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Green-winged Pytilia sighting in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, based on 24 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 252nd most-seen of the 341 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Green-winged Pytilia in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in May–June and August–March, the lowest months. Those are among Samburu National Reserve's wettest months, with about 55 mm of rain a month against 5 mm in September.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Green-winged Pytilia sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
34th of 36
Of the 36 parks where we can rate Green-winged Pytilia sightings, Samburu National Reserve ranks 34th at under 5%. The best odds are in Ruaha National Park (Tanzania, about 50%), Waterberg Plateau Park (Namibia, about 40%) and Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Estrildidae
The closest relatives of the Green-winged Pytilia that you can see in Samburu National Reserve (family Estrildidae, Waxbills and Allies) are Cut-throat (about 30%), Red-billed Firefinch (about 20%) and Blue-capped Cordonbleu (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Green-winged Pytilia is recorded against all the birds logged in Samburu National Reserve (24 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.
