Turdus mandarinus
Silhouette: Sharon Wegner-Larsen · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The Chinese blackbird (Turdus mandarinus) is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. It was formerly considered conspecific with the related common blackbird (T. merula). The Chinese blackbird (T. m. mandarinus) breeds throughout much of southern, central and eastern China. It is a partial migrant to Hong Kong and south to Laos and Vietnam. The male is sooty black, and the female is similar but browner, and paler on the underparts. It is a large subspecies.
Sowerby's blackbird (T. m. sowerbyi), named for James Sowerby, British naturalist and illustrator, breeds from eastern Sichuan to Guizhou. It is partially migratory, with some individuals spending the winter in southern China and northern Indochina. It resembles mandarinus, but is smaller and darker below.
It is typically monogamous, but some exceptions have been observed. It is omnivorous. During the breeding season, it primarily feeds on earthworms. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cuc Phuong National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chișinău Zoo | 🇲🇩 Moldova |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Chinese Blackbird sighting in Cuc Phuong National Park on a given day, based on 38 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 67th most-seen of the 159 birds 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 to February
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Chinese Blackbird in Cuc Phuong National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April and October, the lowest months. Those are among Cuc Phuong National Park's driest months, with about 55 mm of rain a month against 390 mm in August. July has too few records to rate.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Chinese Blackbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Cuc Phuong National Park, in our data
Cuc Phuong National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Chinese Blackbird sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Turdus
The closest relatives of the Chinese Blackbird that you can see in Cuc Phuong National Park (genus Turdus, Typical Thrushes) are Japanese Thrush (about 50%), Black-breasted Thrush (about 40%) and Grey-backed Thrush (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Chinese Blackbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Cuc Phuong National Park (38 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
