Anas zonorhyncha
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The eastern spot-billed duck or Chinese spot-billed duck (Anas zonorhyncha) is a species of dabbling duck that breeds in East and Southeast Asia. This species was formerly considered a subspecies of the Indian spot-billed duck and both were referred to as the spot-billed duck (A. poecilorhyncha). The name is derived from the yellow spot on the bill.
The eastern spot-billed duck was described by the English biologist Robert Swinhoe in 1866 under its current binomial name Anas zonorhyncha. The name of the genus Anas is the Latin word for a duck. The specific epithet zonorhyncha is derived from the classical Greek words zōnē meaning "band" or "girdle" and rhunkhos meaning "bill".
Historically, the eastern spot-billed duck was usually considered as a subspecies of the Indian spot-billed duck (A. poecilorhyncha). The American ornithologist Bradley Livezey in a morphological study of the dabbling ducks published in 1991 proposed that the eastern spot-billed duck should be promoted to species status. Subsequently, fieldwork conducted at Hong Kong in southern China found that although both the eastern spot-billed duck and the Indian spot-billed duck (subspecies A. poecilorhyncha... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 2 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SeaWorld San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Chimelong Safari Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 3 | 无锡动物园 | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 4 | Nikolaev Zoo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 5 | Vogelpark Marlow | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | 杭州动物园 | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 7 | Asahiyama Zoo | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 8 | Green World Ecological Farm | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 9 | Ueno Zoological Gardens (West Garden) | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 10 | Shinagawa Aquarium | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 11 | Cologne Zoo Aquarium | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 12 | Hangzhou Zoo | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 13 | Yokohama Omoshiro Aquarium | 🇯🇵 Japan |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Spot-billed Duck sighting in Beijing on a given day, based on 850 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 60th most-seen of the 324 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Spot-billed Duck in Beijing on a given day, against about 10% in August and October–June, the lowest months. Those are among Beijing's wettest months, with about 110 mm of rain a month against almost none in January.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eastern Spot-billed Duck sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
35th of 47
Of the 47 cities where we can rate Eastern Spot-billed Duck sightings, Beijing ranks 35th at about 10%. The best odds are in Sendai (Japan, about 80%), Daejeon (South Korea, about 80%) and Tokyo (Japan, about 70%).
Same genus: Anas
The closest relatives of the Eastern Spot-billed Duck that you can see in Beijing (genus Anas, Mallards, Pintails, and Allies) are Mallard (about 70%), Eurasian Teal (about 20%) and Northern Pintail (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eastern Spot-billed Duck is recorded against all the birds logged in Beijing (850 verified sightings), 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.
