Fork-tailed Sunbird

Fork-tailed Sunbird

Aethopyga christinae

Silhouette: Rachael Joakim · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~30% · Possible
at Hong Kong

In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%

853 Verified sightings at Hong Kong
181 In 1 park From 2019 to 2026
December Best month
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted

About the Fork-tailed Sunbird

The fork-tailed sunbird (Aethopyga christinae) is a bird in the family Nectariniidae. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1869. It is found in China, Hong Kong, Laos, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. These small birds, with decurved bill, call a soft and frequent "zwink-zwink" and a metallic trill. The bird appears in the most commonly used postal stamp of Hong Kong. Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call1:20

China · 2026

© Bo Shunqi 薄顺奇 · XC1095754 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song1:14

China · 2026

© JJSUN · XC1080664 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call?1:02

Vietnam · 2010

© Hans Matheve · XC156631 · CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Cuc Phuong National Park 🇻🇳 Vietnam
~60%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Fuzhou 🇨🇳 China
~40%
2 Hong Kong 🇨🇳 China
~30%
3 Guangzhou 🇨🇳 China
~30%
4 Shantou 🇨🇳 China
~30%
5 Chongqing 🇨🇳 China
~20%
6 Xiamen City 🇨🇳 China
~20%
7 Zhuhai [Macau] 🇨🇳 China
~20%
8 Tuen Mun 🇨🇳 China
~10%
9 Chengdu 🇨🇳 China
~10%
10 Guiyang 🇨🇳 China
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Fork-tailed Sunbird in Hong Kong?

Possible

About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Fork-tailed Sunbird sighting in Hong Kong on a given day, based on 853 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 18th most-seen of the 204 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Fork-tailed Sunbird in Hong Kong?

December

In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Fork-tailed Sunbird in Hong Kong on a given day, against about 10% in June to October, the lowest months. That is one of Hong Kong's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 280 mm in June.

What time of day is best to see a Fork-tailed Sunbird?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Fork-tailed Sunbird 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 Hong Kong the best place to see a Fork-tailed Sunbird?

2nd of 13

Of the 13 cities where we can rate Fork-tailed Sunbird sightings, Hong Kong ranks 2nd at about 30%. The best odds are in Fuzhou (China, about 40%).

Where does the Fork-tailed Sunbird sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Fork-tailed Sunbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Hong Kong (853 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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