Notopholia corrusca
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
The black-bellied starling (Notopholia corusca) is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae, originally described by zoologist Alexander von Nordmann in 1835. It is found in Eswatini, Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
Their iris color changes by mood or behavior due to fluctuations in blood flow rates. Black-bellied (glossy) starling – Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Black-bellied Starling sighting in uMkhuze Game Reserve on a given day, based on 201 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 67th most-seen of the 283 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and November
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Black-bellied Starling in uMkhuze Game Reserve on a given day, against about 20% in March and July–August, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-bellied Starling sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Black-bellied Starling sightings, uMkhuze Game Reserve ranks 2nd at about 40%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Sturnidae
The closest relatives of the Black-bellied Starling that you can see in uMkhuze Game Reserve (family Sturnidae, Starlings) are Red-shouldered Glossy-starling (about 70%) and Violet-backed Starling (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-bellied Starling is recorded against all the birds logged in uMkhuze Game Reserve (201 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.
