Anas poecilorhyncha
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The Indian spot-billed duck (Anas poecilorhyncha) is a species of large dabbling duck that is a non-migratory breeding duck throughout freshwater wetlands in the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the red spot at the base of the bill that is found in the mainland Indian population. When in water it can be recognized from a long distance by the white tertials that form a stripe on the side, and in flight it is distinguished by the green speculum with a broad white band at the base. This species and the eastern spot-billed duck (A. zonorhyncha) were formerly considered conspecific, together called the spot-billed duck (A. poecilorhyncha).
The Indian spot-billed duck was described by the naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster in 1781 under its current binomial name Anas poecilorhyncha. The name of the genus Anas is the Latin word for a duck. The specific epithet poecilorhyncha combines the classical Greek words poikilos meaning "pied" or "spotted" and rhunkhos meaning a "bill".
A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2009 that compared mitochondrial DNA sequences from ducks, geese and swans in the family Anatidae found that the Indian spot-billed duck was a sister... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Gir National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | SeaWorld Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | SeaWorld San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Tallinn Zoo | 🇪🇪 Estonia | |
| 6 | Singapore Zoo | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 7 | Almaty Zoo | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | |
| 8 | VigoNature | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 9 | Staten Island Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Debrecen Amusement Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Spot-billed Duck sighting in Surat on a given day, based on 41 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 36th most-seen of the 114 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Spot-billed Duck in Surat on a given day, against about 10% in April–May and November, the lowest months. That is one of Surat's driest months, with almost no rain against 450 mm in July.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Indian Spot-billed Duck sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
13th of 50
Of the 50 cities where we can rate Indian Spot-billed Duck sightings, Surat ranks 13th at about 20%. The best odds are in Jodhpur (India, about 50%), Rajkot (India, about 50%) and Indore (India, about 50%).
Same family: Anatidae
The closest relatives of the Indian Spot-billed Duck that you can see in Surat (family Anatidae, Ducks, Geese, and Swans) are Comb Duck (about 20%), Lesser Whistling-Duck (about 20%) and Ruddy Shelduck (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Indian Spot-billed Duck is recorded against all the birds logged in Surat (41 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.
