Lagonosticta rhodopareia
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Jameson's firefinch (Lagonosticta rhodopareia) is a common species of estrildid finch, sparsely spread across sub-Saharan Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 2,600,000 km2. BirdLife International species factsheet
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gonarezhou National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 2 | Mana Pools National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 3 | Lower Zambezi National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 4 | Ruaha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 5 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Mikumi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 7 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Hwange National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 9 | South Luangwa National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 10 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 11 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 12 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 13 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 14 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 15 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 16 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 17 | Lake Manyara National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 18 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 19 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 20 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 2 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Jameson's Firefinch sighting in uMkhuze Game Reserve on a given day, based on 60 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 175th most-seen of the 283 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Jameson's Firefinch in uMkhuze Game Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in February–March and November–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 Jameson's Firefinch sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 20
Of the 20 parks where we can rate Jameson's Firefinch sightings, uMkhuze Game Reserve ranks 7th at about 10%. The best odds are in Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe, about 20%), Mana Pools National Park (Zimbabwe, about 10%) and Lower Zambezi National Park (Zambia, about 10%).
Same genus: Lagonosticta
The closest relatives of the Jameson's Firefinch that you can see in uMkhuze Game Reserve (genus Lagonosticta, Firefinches) are Red-billed Firefinch (about 20%) and African Firefinch (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Jameson's Firefinch is recorded against all the birds logged in uMkhuze Game Reserve (60 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.
