Orthonyx spaldingii
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The chowchilla (Orthonyx spaldingii) is a passerine bird in the family Orthonychidae. It is endemic to Australia. Unmistakable thrush-like, ground-dwelling, birds. Males and females largely dark brown with white eye-ring, tail-feather shafts extend as spines beyond feather-vanes; males with white throat, breast and belly; females with bright rufous throat and upper breast, white lower breast and belly.
The chowchilla is restricted to upland and lowland tropical rainforests of north-eastern Queensland. Mainly invertebrates, but also small vertebrates. Continuous chattering, singing and other complex vocalisations. Nests on or near ground, often on ferns, stumps or logs. Builds a bulky, dome-shaped stick-nest with a clutch of one, possibly sometimes two, white eggs.
BirdLife International. (2007). Species factsheet: Orthonyx spaldingii. Downloaded from [1] on 9 August 2007 Higgins, P.J.; & Peter... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Chowchilla sighting in Daintree National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 164th most-seen of the 208 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Chowchilla in Daintree National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Chowchilla sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Daintree National Park, in our data
Daintree National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Chowchilla sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Chowchilla that you can see in Daintree National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Black Butcherbird (about 70%), Green Oriole (about 60%) and Shining Flycatcher (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Chowchilla is recorded against all the birds logged in Daintree National Park (14 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.
