Zosterops virens
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The Cape white-eye (Zosterops virens) is a small passerine bird in the white-eye family. It is native to southern Africa. It is commonly found in suburbia, parks and gardens, besides a variety of mesic to well-watered habitats.
These subspecies interbreed where they come into contact. The Orange River white-eye (Z. pallidus) has been split from the Cape white-eye. This species is about 12 cm long with rounded wings, strong legs, and a conspicuous ring of white feathers round the eyes. The upperparts are green, and the throat and vent are bright yellow.
They are very vocal, and constantly keep in touch with soft trilled pee, pree or pirreee call notes. The song consists of repeated long jerky phrases of sweet reedy notes, varying in pitch, volume and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Golden Gate Highlands National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 9 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 10 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 11 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Very likely
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Cape White-eye sighting in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 6,387 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 223 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May, August and October–December
In those months about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Cape White-eye in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, against about 70% in January–April, June–July and September, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cape White-eye sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 11 parks where we can rate Cape White-eye sightings, Table Mountain National Park has the highest daily chance: about 70%. Next come Garden Route National Park (South Africa, about 70%) and Golden Gate Highlands National Park (South Africa, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Cape White-eye that you can see in Table Mountain National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Red-winged Starling (about 80%), Southern Double-collared Sunbird (about 70%) and Cape Robin-Chat (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cape White-eye is recorded against all the birds logged in Table Mountain National Park (6,387 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.
