Vidua funerea
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The name dusky indigobird can also refer to Vidua purpurascens. The dusky indigobird, variable indigobird, or black widowfinch (Vidua funerea) is a species of bird in the family Viduidae. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is moist savanna.
Dusky indigobird - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 2 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 4 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black Widowfinch sighting in uMkhuze Game Reserve on a given day, based on 29 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 225th most-seen of the 283 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black Widowfinch in uMkhuze Game Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in February and April–December, the lowest months. That is one of uMkhuze Game Reserve's wettest months, with about 80 mm of rain against 15 mm in July.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black Widowfinch sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Black Widowfinch sightings, uMkhuze Game Reserve ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Gorongosa National Park (Mozambique, about 10%), Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park (South Africa, about 10%) and Liwonde National Park (Malawi, under 5%).
Same genus: Vidua
The closest relatives of the Black Widowfinch that you can see in uMkhuze Game Reserve (genus Vidua, Indigobirds and Whydahs) are Long-tailed Paradise Whydah (about 10%) and Pin-tailed Whydah (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black Widowfinch is recorded against all the birds logged in uMkhuze Game Reserve (29 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.
