Cinnyris bifasciatus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The purple-banded sunbird (Cinnyris bifasciatus) is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The Tsavo sunbird, sometimes lumped with the purple-banded, is here considered a separate species. Purple-banded sunbird - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 4 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Lower Zambezi National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 6 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 7 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 8 | Mana Pools National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 9 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 10 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 11 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 12 | Mikumi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 13 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 14 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 15 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 16 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 17 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 18 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 19 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 20 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Luanda | 🇦🇴 Angola | |
| 4 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Lusaka | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 7 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Purple-banded Sunbird sighting in uMkhuze Game Reserve on a given day, based on 266 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 45th most-seen of the 283 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Purple-banded Sunbird in uMkhuze Game Reserve on a given day, against about 10% in February, the lowest month.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Purple-banded Sunbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 20 parks where we can rate Purple-banded Sunbird sightings, uMkhuze Game Reserve has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa, about 40%) and Gorongosa National Park (Mozambique, about 10%).
Same genus: Cinnyris
The closest relatives of the Purple-banded Sunbird that you can see in uMkhuze Game Reserve (genus Cinnyris, Cinnyris Sunbirds) are White-breasted Sunbird (about 60%), Neergaard's Sunbird (about 20%) and Mariqua Sunbird (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Purple-banded Sunbird is recorded against all the birds logged in uMkhuze Game Reserve (266 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.
