Orthotomus sutorius
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The common tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) is a songbird found across tropical and subtropical Asia. Popular for its nest made of leaves "sewn" together and immortalized by Rudyard Kipling as Darzee in his Jungle Book, it is a common resident in urban gardens. Although shy birds that are usually hidden within vegetation, their loud calls are familiar and give away their presence. They are distinctive in having a long upright tail, greenish upper body plumage and rust coloured forehead and crown. This passerine bird is typically found in open farmland, scrub, forest edges and gardens. Tailorbirds get their name from the way their nest is constructed. The edges of a large leaf are pierced and sewn together with plant fibre or spider silk to make a cradle in which the actual nest is built.
The scientific name sutorius means "cobbler" rather than "tailor" while Orthotomus means "straight-cutting". The species was earlier placed in the family Sylviidae but more recent molecular studies place the species within the family Cisticolidae, along with Prinia and Cisticola.
A number of subspecies are recognized within its widespread range in South Asia and Southeast... Wikipedia →
Very likely
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Common Tailorbird sighting in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] on a given day, based on 6,694 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 7th most-seen of the 204 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–May and July–November
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Common Tailorbird in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] on a given day, against about 60% in June and December–January, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Tailorbird 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.
17th of 93
Of the 93 cities where we can rate Common Tailorbird sightings, Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] ranks 17th at about 70%. The best odds are in Jalandhar (India, about 90%), Raipur (India, about 80%) and Hanoi (Vietnam, about 80%).
Same family: Cisticolidae
The closest relatives of the Common Tailorbird that you can see in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] (family Cisticolidae, Cisticolas and Allies) are Plain Prinia (about 20%), Zitting Cisticola (about 10%) and Ashy Prinia (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Tailorbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] (6,694 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.
