Redtail
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Brisbane

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%

168 Verified sightings at Brisbane
27 In all 2 parks From 2019 to 2026
April Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Redtail

Ceriagrion aeruginosum is a species of damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae. Its common name is redtail. It is found in Indonesia, the Moluccas, New Guinea, Australia and possibly the Solomon Islands. Natural habitats of Ceriagrion aeruginosum are freshwater swamps, ponds and slow moving streams. Adult males are medium-sized damselflies (wingspan 50mm, length 45mm), mostly red with their synthorax becoming pale green as they mature. In Australia, their distribution is in suitable habitat in the north-west and north-eastern part of the continent from about Broome to the south-eastern Queensland border.

Ceriagrion aeruginosum has been assessed as least concern 3.1 in the IUCN Red List. The genus name Ceriagrion is derived from the Latin cerinus ("wax-coloured"), combined with Agrion, a genus name derived from the Greek ἄγριος (agrios, "wild"). Agrion was the name given in 1775 by Johan Christian Fabricius for all damselflies.

The species name aeruginosum is derived from the Latin aeruginosus ("verdigris-coloured" or "rusty"), referring to the brownish colouring of the thorax, legs and top of the head. List of Odonata species of Australia... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Litchfield National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~20%
2 Kakadu National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Brisbane 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Redtail in Brisbane?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Redtail sighting in Brisbane on a given day, based on 168 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 129th most-seen of the 1083 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Redtail in Brisbane?

October to May

In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Redtail in Brisbane on a given day, against under 5% in June to September, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Redtail?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Redtail sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Where else can you see a Redtail?

Only Brisbane, in our data

Brisbane is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Redtail sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Which relatives of the Redtail live in Brisbane?

Same family: Coenagrionidae

The closest relatives of the Redtail that you can see in Brisbane (family Coenagrionidae, Narrow-winged Damselflies) are Australian Bluetail (about 20%), Aurora Bluetail (about 10%) and Wandering Midget (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Redtail sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Redtail is recorded against all the insects logged in Brisbane (168 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.

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