Ploceus bicolor
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The dark-backed weaver (Ploceus bicolor), also known as the forest weaver, is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is very sparsely present across central and southern Sub-Saharan Africa. Dark-backed weaver - Species text in Weaver Watch.
(Dark-backed weaver = ) Forest weaver - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. image at ADW Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 4 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 5 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 6 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 8 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Dark-backed Weaver sighting in uMkhuze Game Reserve on a given day, based on 127 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 88th most-seen of the 283 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and October
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Dark-backed Weaver in uMkhuze Game Reserve on a given day, against about 10% in February and August, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dark-backed Weaver sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Dark-backed Weaver sightings, uMkhuze Game Reserve ranks 2nd at about 30%. The best odds are in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa, about 40%).
Same genus: Ploceus
The closest relatives of the Dark-backed Weaver that you can see in uMkhuze Game Reserve (genus Ploceus, Typical Weavers) are Spectacled Weaver (about 40%), Village Weaver (about 40%) and Lesser Masked-Weaver (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Dark-backed Weaver is recorded against all the birds logged in uMkhuze Game Reserve (127 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.
