Common Birdwing

Common Birdwing

Troides helena

Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Yogyakarta

In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%

15 Verified sightings at Yogyakarta
91 In all 6 parks From 2019 to 2026
September Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Common Birdwing

Troides helena, the common birdwing, is a butterfly belonging to the family Papilionidae. It is often found in the wildlife trade due to its popularity with butterfly collectors. The butterfly has seventeen subspecies. The description of the commonest subspecies of the butterfly in India, T. h. cerberus Felder, is given below:

Upperside of forewings are rich velvety black with adnervular pale streaks on either side of the veins beyond the cell. The cilia is short, black, alternated with pale buffy white in the middle of the interspaces. Hindwing: the abdominal fold, the apical half obliquely of interspace 1, the termen broadly, the base of the cell and the costal area up to and including the basal half of interspace 7 velvety black, the rest of the wing rich silky yellow; the veins prominently but narrowly black; the inner margin of the terminal black border produced inwards into prominent cone-shaped markings in the interspaces.

All specimens have one or more postdiscal black spots in the interspaces, but never a complete series; in interspace 2 and sometimes also in interspace 3 these spots coalesce with the cone-shaped projections of the terminal black... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Tangkoko Nature Reserve 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~50%
2 Danum Valley Conservation Area 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~20%
3 Khao Yai National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~20%
4 Kinabalu Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~10%
5 Cat Tien National Park 🇻🇳 Vietnam
~10%
6 Doi Inthanon National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Yogyakarta 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~20%
2 Kuching 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~20%
3 Singapore 🇸🇬 Singapore
~10%
4 Kuala Lumpur 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~10%
5 Jakarta 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~10%
6 Hong Kong 🇨🇳 China
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Common Birdwing in Yogyakarta?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Common Birdwing sighting in Yogyakarta on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 62nd most-seen of the 141 insects 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.

When is the best time to see a Common Birdwing in Yogyakarta?

March and September

In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Common Birdwing in Yogyakarta on a given day, against under 5% in June–August and December, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Common Birdwing?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Birdwing sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Yogyakarta the best place to see a Common Birdwing?

Yes

Of the 6 cities where we can rate Common Birdwing sightings, Yogyakarta has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Kuching (Malaysia, about 20%) and Singapore (Singapore, about 10%).

Which relatives of the Common Birdwing live in Yogyakarta?

Same family: Papilionidae

The closest relatives of the Common Birdwing that you can see in Yogyakarta (family Papilionidae, Swallowtails and Parnassians) are Great Mormon Swallowtail (about 30%), Lime Swallowtail (about 30%) and Tailed Jay (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Common Birdwing sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Common Birdwing is recorded against all the insects logged in Yogyakarta (15 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.

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