Aegithina tiphia
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The common iora (Aegithina tiphia) is a small passerine bird found across the tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with populations showing plumage variations, some of which are designated as subspecies. A species found in scrub and forest, it is easily detected from its loud whistles and the bright colours. During the breeding season, males display by fluffing up their feathers and spiral in the air appearing like a green, black, yellow, and white ball.
In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the common iora in the second volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "The Green Indian Fly-Catcher". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a specimen that had been sent from Bengal to the silk-pattern designer and naturalist Joseph Dandridge in London. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the common iora in the genus Motacilla. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Motacilla tiphia and cited Edwards' work. The common iora is now placed in the genus Aegithina that was introduced... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Savar | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 2 | Solapur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Yogyakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 4 | Jakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 5 | Thrissur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Bhopal | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Jabalpur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Yangon | 🇲🇲 Myanmar | |
| 10 | Asansol | 🇮🇳 India |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Iora sighting in Chennai on a given day, based on 118 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 133rd most-seen of the 223 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 Common Iora in Chennai on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 2 and 5 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Iora sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
54th of 63
Of the 63 cities where we can rate Common Iora sightings, Chennai ranks 54th at under 5%. The best odds are in Savar (Bangladesh, about 60%), Solapur (India, about 50%) and Yogyakarta (Indonesia, about 50%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Common Iora that you can see in Chennai (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are House Crow (about 90%), Large-billed Crow (about 60%) and Common Tailorbird (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Iora is recorded against all the birds logged in Chennai (118 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.
