Parus spilonotus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The yellow-cheeked tit (Machlolophus spilonotus) is a species of bird in the family Paridae. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. Its range extends across the eastern Himalayas, southern China and Indochina.
The yellow-cheeked tit was formerly one of the many species in the genus Parus but was moved to Machlolophus after a molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2013 showed that the members of the new genus formed a distinct clade. Wikipedia →
Recording0:29
Hong Kong SAR China · 2024
© johnallcock · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:20
Thailand · 2025
© Daan Drukker · Observation.org, Nature data from around the World · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 2 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ho Chi Minh City | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 2 | Hong Kong | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 3 | Shanghai | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 4 | Guangzhou | 🇨🇳 China |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-cheeked Tit sighting in Hong Kong on a given day, based on 49 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 99th most-seen of the 204 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-cheeked Tit in Hong Kong on a given day, against under 5% in January to November, the lowest months. That is one of Hong Kong's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 280 mm in June.
Between 2 and 5 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-cheeked Tit 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.
Among the best
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Yellow-cheeked Tit sightings, Hong Kong ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam, under 5%).
Same genus: Parus
The closest relatives of the Yellow-cheeked Tit that you can see in Hong Kong (genus Parus, Great Tits and Allies) are Cinereous Tit (about 60%) and Eastern Great Tit (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-cheeked Tit is recorded against all the birds logged in Hong Kong (49 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.
