Nisaetus nipalensis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The mountain hawk-eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis) or Hodgson's hawk-eagle, is a large bird of prey native to Asia. The latter name is in reference to the naturalist, Brian Houghton Hodgson, who described the species after collecting one himself in the Himalayas. A less widely recognized common English name is the feather-toed eagle. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae. Its feathered tarsus marks this species as a member of the subfamily Aquilinae. It is a confirmed breeding species in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, from India, Nepal (hence the epithet nipalensis) through Bangladesh to Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and Japan, although its distribution could be wider still as breeding species. Like other Asian hawk-eagles, this species was earlier treated under the genera of Spizaetus but genetic studies have shown this group to be paraphyletic, resulting in the Old World members being placed in Nisaetus (Hodgson, 1836) and separated from the New World species. As is typical of hawk-eagles, the mountain hawk-eagle is a forest dwelling opportunistic predator who readily varies its prey selection between birds, mammals and reptiles along with other vertebrates. Although classified currently as a least-concern species due its persistence over a rather wide distribution, this species is often quite rare and scarce and seems to be decreasing, especially in response to large-scale habitat degradation and deforestation. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 2 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 3 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 4 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 5 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Cuc Phuong National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 7 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 8 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 10 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 11 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kathmandu | 🇳🇵 Nepal |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taipei Zoo | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 2 | Asahiyama Zoo | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 3 | Pt. G.B. Pant High Altitude Zoo, Nainital | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Sunshine Aquarium | 🇯🇵 Japan |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Hawk-Eagle sighting in Chitwan National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 305th most-seen of the 367 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 Mountain Hawk-Eagle in Chitwan National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mountain Hawk-Eagle sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
11th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate Mountain Hawk-Eagle sightings, Chitwan National Park ranks 11th at under 5%. The best odds are in Royal Manas National Park (Bhutan, about 20%), Taroko National Park (Taiwan, about 10%) and Langtang National Park (Nepal, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mountain Hawk-Eagle is recorded against all the birds logged in Chitwan National Park (10 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.
