Eastern Spot-billed Duck

Eastern Spot-billed Duck

Anas zonorhyncha

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~50% · Likely
at Hangzhou

In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%

933 Verified sightings at Hangzhou
187 In all 2 parks From 2019 to 2026
November Best month
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted

About the Eastern Spot-billed Duck

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 →

Sounds

Call0:36

China · 2024

© 小菜鸟 · XC920581 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Begging call1:21

China · 2019

© Bo Shunqi 薄顺奇 · XC841268 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call1:25

Mongolia · 2017

© Frank Lambert · XC414280 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Nikko National Park 🇯🇵 Japan
~20%
2 Kaziranga National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Sendai 🇯🇵 Japan
~80%
2 Daejeon 🇰🇷 South Korea
~80%
3 Tokyo 🇯🇵 Japan
~70%
4 Nagoya 🇯🇵 Japan
~70%
5 Osaka 🇯🇵 Japan
~60%
6 Ningbo 🇨🇳 China
~60%
7 Tianjin 🇨🇳 China
~60%
8 Seoul 🇰🇷 South Korea
~50%
9 Hangzhou 🇨🇳 China
~50%
10 Quanzhou 🇨🇳 China
~50%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 SeaWorld San Antonio 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
2 Chimelong Safari Park 🇨🇳 China In captivity
3 无锡动物园 🇨🇳 China In captivity
4 Nikolaev Zoo 🇺🇦 Ukraine In captivity
5 Vogelpark Marlow 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
6 杭州动物园 🇨🇳 China In captivity
7 Asahiyama Zoo 🇯🇵 Japan In captivity
8 Green World Ecological Farm 🇹🇼 Taiwan In captivity
9 Ueno Zoological Gardens (West Garden) 🇯🇵 Japan In captivity
10 Shinagawa Aquarium 🇯🇵 Japan In captivity
11 Cologne Zoo Aquarium 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
12 Hangzhou Zoo 🇨🇳 China In captivity
13 Yokohama Omoshiro Aquarium 🇯🇵 Japan In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing an Eastern Spot-billed Duck in Hangzhou?

Likely

About 50% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Spot-billed Duck sighting in Hangzhou on a given day, based on 933 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 11th most-seen of the 219 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see an Eastern Spot-billed Duck in Hangzhou?

January–February, June and November

In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Spot-billed Duck in Hangzhou on a given day, against about 40% in May and September, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see an Eastern Spot-billed Duck?

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.

Is Hangzhou the best place to see an Eastern Spot-billed Duck?

9th of 47

Of the 47 cities where we can rate Eastern Spot-billed Duck sightings, Hangzhou ranks 9th at about 50%. The best odds are in Sendai (Japan, about 80%), Daejeon (South Korea, about 80%) and Tokyo (Japan, about 70%).

Which relatives of the Eastern Spot-billed Duck live in Hangzhou?

Same genus: Anas

The closest relatives of the Eastern Spot-billed Duck that you can see in Hangzhou (genus Anas, Mallards, Pintails, and Allies) are Mallard (about 20%) and Eurasian Teal (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Eastern Spot-billed Duck sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Eastern Spot-billed Duck is recorded against all the birds logged in Hangzhou (933 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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