Cinnyris chloropygius
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The olive-bellied sunbird (Cinnyris chloropygius) is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is widely spread across the African tropical rainforest primarily throughout West and Central Africa, but is also found in Southern and East Africa.
The olive-bellied sunbird is a small species, and very similar to the tiny sunbird (Cinnyris minullus) in appearance. The adult male has a metallic green head, back and throat, dark brown wings, a metallic blue rump and a black tail with a purplish-blue sheen. It has a narrow blue breast band above a wider scarlet breast patch, lemon-yellow pectoral tufts and an olive belly. It differs from the slightly smaller tiny sunbird in having a larger beak and no blue bars among the red breast plumage. The adult female has an olive-brown head and upper parts, dark brown wings and dark brown tail. The underparts are olive washed with yellow, and are yellower and less streaked than the tiny sunbird.
The olive-bellied sunbird moves about singly or in pairs, or sometimes in groups of about six birds. It forages in the lower parts of the canopy, feeding on caterpillars, beetles, spiders, nectar, flowers and seeds. The... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 5 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | Volcanoes National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 7 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 8 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 9 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 10 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Olive-bellied Sunbird sighting in Volcanoes National Park on a given day, based on 29 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 91st most-seen of the 156 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Olive-bellied Sunbird in Volcanoes National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–June, September and December, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Olive-bellied Sunbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 10
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Olive-bellied Sunbird sightings, Volcanoes National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Kibale National Park (Uganda, about 50%), Semuliki National Park (Uganda, about 10%) and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Uganda, about 10%).
Same genus: Cinnyris
The closest relatives of the Olive-bellied Sunbird that you can see in Volcanoes National Park (genus Cinnyris, Cinnyris Sunbirds) are Variable Sunbird (about 60%), Regal Sunbird (about 30%) and Stuhlmann's Sunbird (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Olive-bellied Sunbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Volcanoes National Park (29 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.
