Egernia kingii
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
King's skink (Egernia kingii) is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia. The specific name, kingii, is in honor of Australian Phillip Parker King, who explored the coast of Australia while he was an officer in the Royal Navy.
King's skink is native to coastal regions of south-western Australia. It is common on Rottnest Island and Penguin Island and some coastal areas with open forest and open heath. King's skink is a large, heavy-bodied black skink that can reach a total length (including tail) of 55 centimetres (22 in) with a mass of 220 grams (8 oz).
King's skink is omnivorous and consumes mostly softer plant matter from the range of local vegetation, but supplements its diet with insects and birds' eggs. King's skink is prey for many animals including tiger snakes (Notechis spp.).
A traditional name for King's skink is wandy, given by the Nyungar people of south-west Western Australia. The first European to draw a King's skink was the artist and naturalist Ferdinand Bauer who made a detailed drawing of one during Flinders' expedition in... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rottnest Island | 🇦🇺 Australia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perth | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Healesville Sanctuary | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a King's Skink sighting in Perth on a given day, based on 52 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 8th most-seen of the 23 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a King's Skink in Perth on a given day, against under 5% in June to August, the lowest months. That is one of Perth's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain against 130 mm in July.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most King's Skink sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Perth, in our data
Perth is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate King's Skink sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Scincidae
The closest relatives of the King's Skink that you can see in Perth (family Scincidae, Skinks) are Shingleback Lizard (about 40%), Buchanan's Snake-eyed Skink (about 40%) and Two-toed Earless Skink (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the King's Skink is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Perth (52 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.
