Cyanomitra olivacea
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The olive sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea) is a large African species of sunbird belonging to the family Nectariniidae which encompasses species of sunbirds, spiderhunters, and flowerpeckers, and sugarbirds. It has a large distribution that spans across central Africa from western countries including Senegal, Guinea, and Angola towards eastern countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mozambique. This range also extends to southern African countries including South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is mainly nectarivorous and lives in a variety of forest, scrubland, and modified habitats.
The olive sunbird is a large sunbird that ranges from 6.2-15 g in mass, 50–73 mm in wing length, 20–29 mm in bill length, 35–66 mm in tail length, and 12–15 cm in overall body size depending on the subspecies and sex. Its body colouration can vary from fully dark-olive to dull-olive with a paler olive-yellow or olive-grey underside. It has a long beak that curves downward and varies in colour from solid black to mottled grey, beige, and yellow-orange depending on the subspecies. Yellowish-orange pectoral tufts can be present in the males and females found in eastern subspecies while only males... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 5 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | Taï National Park | 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast | |
| 7 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 8 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 9 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 10 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 11 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 12 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 13 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 14 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Yaoundé | 🇨🇲 Cameroon | |
| 4 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Abidjan | 🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire | |
| 6 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 7 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Olive Sunbird sighting in Virunga National Park on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 224th most-seen of the 316 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–February, July and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Olive Sunbird in Virunga National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March–June, August–October and December, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Olive Sunbird sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
10th of 14
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Olive Sunbird sightings, Virunga National Park ranks 10th at under 5%. The best odds are in Semuliki National Park (Uganda, about 40%), iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa, about 40%) and Kibale National Park (Uganda, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Cyanomitra
The closest relatives of the Olive Sunbird that you can see in Virunga National Park (genus Cyanomitra, Brownish Sunbirds) are Green-headed Sunbird (about 10%) and Blue-headed Sunbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Olive Sunbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Virunga National Park (15 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.
