Uraeginthus ianthinogaster
Silhouette: Jim Bendon (photography) and T. Michael Keesey (vectorization) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The purple grenadier (Granatina ianthinogaster) is a common species of estrildid finch found in eastern Africa. The length averages 13.3 cm (5.2 in). All ages and sexes have a black tail, and adults have a red bill. The male has a cinnamon-colored head and neck with a blue patch surrounding the eye. The rump is purplish blue and the underparts are violet-blue with variable rufous patches. The female is smaller and mostly cinnamon brown with white barring on the underparts and silver-blue eyepatches. Juveniles are like females, but mostly unbarred tawny-brown with a reddish-brown bill.
The song (in Kenya) is described as "a high, thin chit-cheet tsereea-ee-ee tsit-tsit, or cheerer cheet tsee-tsee sur-chit." It is found in subtropical and tropical (lowland) dry shrubland in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,500,000 km2 (580,000 sq mi). The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 4 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 5 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 6 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 8 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 9 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 10 | Aberdare National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 11 | Lake Manyara National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 12 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 13 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 14 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 15 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Pairi Daiza | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 3 | San Diego Zoo Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Purple Grenadier sighting in Tarangire National Park on a given day, based on 197 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 133rd most-seen of the 411 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and May
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Purple Grenadier in Tarangire National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February and December, the lowest months. Those are among Tarangire National Park's wettest months, with about 100 mm of rain a month against almost none in September.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Purple Grenadier sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 15
Of the 15 parks where we can rate Purple Grenadier sightings, Tarangire National Park ranks 7th at about 10%. The best odds are in Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 50%), Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya, about 40%) and Mkomazi National Park (Tanzania, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Uraeginthus
The closest relatives of the Purple Grenadier that you can see in Tarangire National Park (genus Uraeginthus, Cordonbleus) are Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu (about 40%) and Blue-capped Cordonbleu (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Purple Grenadier is recorded against all the birds logged in Tarangire National Park (197 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.
