Euodice cantans
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The African silverbill (Euodice cantans) is a small passerine bird formerly considered conspecific with the Asian species Indian silverbill, (Euodice malabarica). This estrildid finch is a common resident breeding bird in dry savanna habitat, south of the Sahara Desert. This species has also been introduced to other countries such as Portugal, Qatar and United States.
The African silverbill was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin under the binomial name Loxia cantans. The specific epithet is from Latin and means "singing". Gmemlin specified the locality as Africa but this was restricted to Dakar in Senegal by William Lutley Sclater and Cyril Mackworth-Praed in 1918. It is now placed with the Indian silverbill in the genus Euodice that was introduced in 1862 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach.
In early literature, the African silverbill and the Indian silverbill (E. malabarica) were treated as conspecific. In 1943, Jean Théodore Delacour united both species in his revision of the Estrildinae. However, in 1964, Colin Harrison studied the two in a strictly comparative manner and concluded that they were two separate species... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 2 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 5 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 8 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 2 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 3 | Maiduguri | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 4 | N'Djamena | 🇹🇩 Chad | |
| 5 | Addis Ababa | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 6 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Tierwelt Herberstein | 🇦🇹 Austria |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an African Silverbill sighting in Tsavo East National Park on a given day, based on 26 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 219th most-seen of the 345 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, March and July–August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an African Silverbill in Tsavo East National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, April–June and September–December, the lowest months. Those are among Tsavo East National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against 130 mm in November.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Silverbill sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate African Silverbill sightings, Tsavo East National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Awash National Park (Ethiopia, about 20%) and Samburu National Reserve (Kenya, about 10%).
Same family: Estrildidae
The closest relatives of the African Silverbill that you can see in Tsavo East National Park (family Estrildidae, Waxbills and Allies) are Cut-throat (about 30%), Green-winged Pytilia (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 African Silverbill is recorded against all the birds logged in Tsavo East National Park (26 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.
