Pomatorhinus musicus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The Taiwan scimitar babbler (Pomatorhinus musicus) is a bird in the family Timaliidae, the Old World babblers. It is endemic to Taiwan. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1859. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the streak-breasted scimitar babbler. Its population is declining, but not rapidly enough for it to be considered vulnerable.
The Taiwan scimitar babbler is a small (16–21 cm, 40 g) scimitar babbler. The upperparts are dark grey-brown, the underparts are white on the throat and the upper breast, with strong rusty brown or greyish streaks from the lower part of the throat to blackish on the flanks. The head has a broad black facial mask and black bridle, chestnut brown neck, white eyebrow line and black eyes.
It differs from the similar streak-breasted scimitar babbler (with which it was previously considered conspecific), by it differs with a slightly larger size and proportionally longer bill with a completely dark upper half. Furthermore, the crown is dark greyish rather than brown, the neck is deeper and broader chestnut brown. On the flanks it is also visible that the belly and flanks are heavily tinged with chestnut brown.... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Taiwan Scimitar-Babbler sighting in Taichung on a given day, based on 636 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 32nd most-seen of the 121 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.
July
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Taiwan Scimitar-Babbler in Taichung on a given day, against about 10% in April, the lowest month. That is one of Taichung's wettest months, with about 220 mm of rain against 40 mm in December.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Taiwan Scimitar-Babbler 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.
Among the best
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Taiwan Scimitar-Babbler sightings, Taichung ranks 2nd at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Kaohsiung (Taiwan, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Taiwan Scimitar-Babbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Taichung (636 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.
