Pomatorhinus musicus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~60%
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.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Taiwan Scimitar-Babbler sighting in Taipei on a given day, based on 3,194 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 40th most-seen of the 266 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Taiwan Scimitar-Babbler in Taipei on a given day, against about 10% in September to July, the lowest months. That is one of Taipei's wettest months, with about 260 mm of rain against 90 mm in February.
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.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Taiwan Scimitar-Babbler sightings, Taipei ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Kaohsiung (Taiwan, about 20%) and Taichung (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 Taipei (3,194 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.
