Estrilda paludicola
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The fawn-breasted waxbill (Estrilda paludicola) is a common species of estrildid finch found in central Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,800,000 km2. Estrilda paludicola, E. ochrogaster and E. poliopareia have been lumped into E. paludicola (Dowsett and Forbes-Watson 1993).
The fawn-breasted waxbill was formally described in 1863 by the German explorer and ornithologist Theodor von Heuglin from a specimen collected on the middle course of the Bahr el Ghazal River in South Sudan. He placed the species in the genus Estrilda (which he spelled as Estrelda) and coined the binomial name Estrilda paludicola. The specific epithet paludicola is Latin meaning "marsh-dweller" (from palus, paludis meaning "swamp" and -cola meaning "dweller").
Six subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Odzala-Kokoua National Park | 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | |
| 2 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 3 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 4 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 7 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 8 | Volcanoes National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 9 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 10 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 11 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 12 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Fawn-breasted Waxbill sighting in Virunga National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 277th most-seen of the 316 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Fawn-breasted Waxbill in Virunga National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to October, the lowest months. That is one of Virunga National Park's wettest months, with about 230 mm of rain against 15 mm in January.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Fawn-breasted Waxbill sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
10th of 12
Of the 12 parks where we can rate Fawn-breasted Waxbill sightings, Virunga National Park ranks 10th at under 5%. The best odds are in Odzala-Kokoua National Park (Republic of the Congo, about 20%), Nyungwe National Park (Rwanda, about 10%) and Akagera National Park (Rwanda, about 10%).
Same genus: Estrilda
The closest relatives of the Fawn-breasted Waxbill that you can see in Virunga National Park (genus Estrilda, Typical Waxbills) are Kandt's Waxbill (about 20%), Crimson-rumped Waxbill (about 10%) and Black-crowned Waxbill (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Fawn-breasted Waxbill is recorded against all the birds logged in Virunga National Park (9 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.
