Leiothrix lutea
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The red-billed leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea) is a member of the family Leiothrichidae, native to southern China and the Himalayas. Adults have bright red bills and a yellowish-white ring around their eyes. Their backs are dull olive green, and they have a bright yellow-orange throat with a yellow chin; females are somewhat duller than males, and juveniles have black bills. It has also been introduced in various parts of the world, with small populations of escapees having existed in Japan since the 1980s. It has become a common cagebird and amongst aviculturists it goes by various names, including Pekin robin, Pekin nightingale, Japanese nightingale, and Japanese (hill) robin, these all being misnomers as it is not native to Japan (although it has been introduced and naturalised there), nor is it a robin or a nightingale.
The red-billed leiothrix was formally described in 1786 by the Austrian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli under the binomial name Sylvia lutea. Scopoli based his account on "La mésange de Nanguin" that had been described and illustrated in 1782 by the French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat in the second volume of his book Voyage aux Indes orientales et à... Wikipedia →
Recording0:09
United States · 2023
© Spencer Len Pote · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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Italy · 2026
© Jessica Peruzzo · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
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United States · 2025
© Julien Carley-Windeler · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 3 | Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 5 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Prague Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 4 | Basel Zoo | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 5 | Tierpark Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | North Carolina Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | San Diego Zoo Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 9 | Columbus Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Poznań Nowe Zoo | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 11 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Beijing Zoo | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 13 | Detroit Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Louisville Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Berlin Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 16 | Taronga Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 17 | Zoo Opole | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 18 | Chengdu Zoo | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 19 | Attica Zoological Park | 🇬🇷 Greece | |
| 20 | Jersey Zoo | 🇯🇪 Jersey | |
| 21 | London Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 22 | Riverbanks Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 23 | Lincoln Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | Vogelpark Avifauna | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 25 | Reid Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 26 | Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 27 | Beijing Aquarium | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 28 | Taman Indonesia | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 29 | Edward Youde Aviary | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China | |
| 30 | Aquarium Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 31 | Bloedel Conservatory | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 32 | Rákosův pavilon | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 33 | Velemlokárium | 🇨🇿 Czechia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Red-billed Leiothrix sighting in Nanjing on a given day, based on 24 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 101st most-seen of the 162 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and November–December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red-billed Leiothrix in Nanjing on a given day, against under 5% in January–May and July–October, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red-billed Leiothrix 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 15
Of the 15 cities where we can rate Red-billed Leiothrix sightings, Nanjing ranks 6th at under 5%. The best odds are in Guiyang (China, about 50%), Chongqing (China, about 10%) and Fukuoka (Japan, about 10%).
Same family: Leiothrichidae
The closest relatives of the Red-billed Leiothrix that you can see in Nanjing (family Leiothrichidae, Laughingthrushes and Allies) are Masked Laughingthrush (about 70%), Greater Necklaced Laughing Thrush (about 30%) and Buffy Laughingthrush (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Red-billed Leiothrix is recorded against all the birds logged in Nanjing (24 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.
