Rufous-bellied Niltava

Rufous-bellied Niltava

Niltava sundara

Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Chengdu

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

59 Verified sightings at Chengdu
857 In all 6 parks From 2019 to 2026
October Best month
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted

About the Rufous-bellied Niltava

The rufous-bellied niltava (Niltava sundara) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.

Rufous-bellied niltava measures 15–18 cm and weighs 19–24 g. It is a large, stocky and brightly coloured flycatcher with rounded head shape, fairly short tail and broad-based bill. The rufous-breasted niltava is one of six species in the genus Niltava, found in South and Southeast Asia as well as in China. This bird has sometimes been considered to be conspecific with the Fujian niltava and rufous-vented niltava.

It was described by the English naturalist Brian Hodgson in 1837. The specific epithet sundara is a Latinised version of the Hindi word sundar, meaning "beautiful". The bird has also been called the blue-and-orange niltava or black-and-orange niltava, as the male's blue upperparts may look black in poor light. Other names for the bird include orange-bellied niltava, beautiful niltava, or the sundara niltava.

N. s... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:25

Laos · 2023

© Bram Piot · XC844448 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:29

China · 2022

© Dave Guo · XC768734 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call0:43

India · 2018

© Mike Dooher · XC433560 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Langtang National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
~20%
2 Doi Inthanon National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~20%
3 Jim Corbett National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
4 Namdapha National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
5 Manas National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
6 Royal Manas National Park 🇧🇹 Bhutan
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Chengdu 🇨🇳 China
~10%
2 Dehradun 🇮🇳 India
~10%
3 Kathmandu 🇳🇵 Nepal
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Rufous-bellied Niltava in Chengdu?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-bellied Niltava sighting in Chengdu on a given day, based on 59 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 48th 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 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Rufous-bellied Niltava in Chengdu?

September and October

In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-bellied Niltava in Chengdu on a given day, against under 5% in May–August and November–February, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Rufous-bellied Niltava?

Between 2 and 5 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-bellied Niltava sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.

Is Chengdu the best place to see a Rufous-bellied Niltava?

Yes

Of the 3 cities where we can rate Rufous-bellied Niltava sightings, Chengdu has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Dehradun (India, about 10%) and Kathmandu (Nepal, under 5%).

Where does the Rufous-bellied Niltava sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Rufous-bellied Niltava is recorded against all the birds logged in Chengdu (59 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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