Lonchura striata
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The white-rumped munia (Lonchura striata) or white-rumped mannikin, sometimes called striated finch in aviculture, is a small passerine bird from the family of waxbill "finches" (Estrildidae). These are not close relatives of the true finches (Fringillidae) or true sparrows (Passeridae).
It is native to tropical continental Asia and some adjacent islands, and has been naturalized in some parts of Japan. Its domesticated descendant, the society finch or Bengalese finch, is found worldwide as a pet and a biological model organism.
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the white-rumped munia in his Ornithologie based on a specimen that he believed had been collected from the Isle de Bourbon (Réunion). The specimen is now assumed to have come from Sri Lanka. He used the French name Le gros-bec de l'Isle de Bourbon and the Latin Coccothraustes Borbonica. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chongqing | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 2 | Thrissur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 4 | Zhuhai [Macau] | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 5 | Savar | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 6 | Kozhikode | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Hong Kong | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 8 | Hangzhou | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 9 | Bangkok | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 10 | Chengdu | 🇨🇳 China |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aquarium of Genoa | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 2 | Zoo Pilsen | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 3 | Jimmy’s Farm & Wildlife Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Zoo Aquarium de Madrid | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Zoopark Limpopo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 6 | Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Bird Kingdom | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Bloedel Conservatory | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Butterfly World | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a White-rumped Munia sighting in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 443 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 52nd most-seen of the 156 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, March–June, August and October–November
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a White-rumped Munia in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, against about 20% in February, July, September and December, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-rumped Munia sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Among the best
Of the 30 parks where we can rate White-rumped Munia sightings, Sinharaja Forest Reserve ranks 2nd at about 30%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Wilpattu National Park (Sri Lanka, about 30%).
Same genus: Lonchura
The closest relatives of the White-rumped Munia that you can see in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (genus Lonchura, Typical Munias and Mannikins) are Black-throated Munia (about 10%) and Nutmeg Mannikin (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-rumped Munia is recorded against all the birds logged in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (443 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.
