Cinclus pallasii
Silhouette: Beth Reinke · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The brown dipper (Cinclus pallasii), also known as Pallas's dipper, Asian dipper or the Asiatic dipper, is an aquatic songbird found in the mountains of the east Palearctic. It is a thrush-like bird with a cocked tail. Its plumage is chocolate-brown with a slightly lighter coloured back and breast. At 22 cm (8.7 in) and 87 g (3.1 oz), it is the largest of the dippers. This species, which is not often seen, is found at medium to low elevations where mountain streams flow.
The brown dipper was described by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1820 and given the binomial name Cinclus pallasii. The type locality is Eastern Siberia. The specific epithet pallasii was chosen in honour of the Prussian naturalist Peter Simon Pallas (1741–1811). Of the five species now placed in the genus, a molecular genetic study has shown that the brown dipper is most closely related to the other Eurasian species, the white-throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus).
There are three subspecies: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 2 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 3 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 4 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 6 | Hemis National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aquamarine Inawashiro Kingfishers Aquarium | 🇯🇵 Japan |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Dipper sighting in Kathmandu on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 306th most-seen of the 312 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Dipper in Kathmandu on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown Dipper sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 7
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Brown Dipper sightings, Kathmandu ranks 6th at under 5%. The best odds are in Almaty (Kazakhstan, about 10%), Guiyang (China, about 10%) and Sapporo (Japan, under 5%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Brown Dipper that you can see in Kathmandu (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are House Crow (about 90%), Oriental Magpie-Robin (about 80%) and Barn Swallow (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown Dipper is recorded against all the birds logged in Kathmandu (7 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.
