Amblyospiza albifrons
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The thick-billed weaver (Amblyospiza albifrons), or grosbeak weaver, is a distinctive and bold species of weaver bird that is native to the Afrotropics. It belongs to the monotypic genus Amblyospiza and subfamily Amblyospizinae.
They have particularly strong mandibles, which are employed to extricate the seeds in nutlets and drupes, and their songs are comparatively unmusical and harsh. Their colonial nests are readily distinguishable from those of other weavers, due to their form and placement, and the fine strands used in their construction.
They habitually fan and flick their tails. The generic name Amblyospiza was coined by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1850 and means "blunt, finch", referencing the very large bill, while the specific name albifrons refers white forehead of the males. The thick-billed weaver was formally described as Pyrrhula albifrons in 1831 by the Irish zoologist and politician Nicholas Aylward Vigors from the collection of Henry Ellis, the specimens of which were attributed to Algoa Bay and environs in the Eastern Cape. Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 4 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 6 | Yaoundé | 🇨🇲 Cameroon | |
| 7 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 9 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 10 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Grosbeak Weaver sighting in Virunga National Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 301st most-seen of the 316 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Grosbeak Weaver in Virunga National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Grosbeak 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.
24th of 28
Of the 28 parks where we can rate Grosbeak Weaver sightings, Virunga National Park ranks 24th at under 5%. The best odds are in Kibale National Park (Uganda, about 40%), iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa, about 30%) and Semuliki National Park (Uganda, about 30%).
Same family: Ploceidae
The closest relatives of the Grosbeak Weaver that you can see in Virunga National Park (family Ploceidae, Weavers and Allies) are Village Weaver (about 20%), Baglafecht Weaver (about 20%) and Black-headed Weaver (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Grosbeak Weaver is recorded against all the birds logged in Virunga National Park (5 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.
