Luscinia svecica
Silhouette: Stephan Sprinz · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in wet birch wood or bushy swamp in Europe and across the Palearctic with a foothold in western Alaska. It nests in tussocks or low in dense bushes. It winters in the Iberian Peninsula, the northern half of Africa, and in southern Asia (among others including the Indian subcontinent). The bluethroat, and similar small European flycatchers, are often called chats.
The bluethroat is similar in size to the European robin at 13–14 cm. It is plain brown above except for the distinctive tail, brown with black outer corners and red basal side patches. It has a strong white supercilium. The males have a striking throat pattern, with a vivid glossy blue throat bordered below with (usually) a narrow black band (but see subspecies, below), and a broad brick-red band below that; additionally there is often a central spot, either red or white, in the middle of the blue throat; see subspecies below for details. Despite the distinctive appearance of the males, recent genetic studies show only limited variation between the forms, and confirm that this is a single species. Moult begins in July after breeding and is completed in 40–45 days, before the birds migrate.
The male has a varied and very imitative song. Its call is a typical chat chack noise. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Biebrza National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 3 | Hortobágy National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 4 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Hemis National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 8 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 9 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 10 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 11 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 12 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 13 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 14 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 15 | Białowieża National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 16 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 17 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 18 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 19 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 20 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 21 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 22 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 23 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vasai-Virar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 3 | Kazan | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 4 | Kalyan-Dombivli | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Jerusalem | 🇮🇱 Israel | |
| 6 | Kuwait City | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | |
| 7 | Indore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Tel Aviv | 🇮🇱 Israel | |
| 9 | Karachi | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | |
| 10 | Ramallah | 🇵🇸 Palestine |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bluethroat sighting in Kolkata on a given day, based on 705 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 74th most-seen of the 247 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December and January
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Bluethroat in Kolkata on a given day, against under 5% in April to October, the lowest months. Those are among Kolkata's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain a month against 330 mm in July.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bluethroat sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
11th of 65
Of the 65 cities where we can rate Bluethroat sightings, Kolkata ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Vasai-Virar (India, about 30%), Novosibirsk (Russia, about 30%) and Kazan (Russia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bluethroat is recorded against all the birds logged in Kolkata (705 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.
