Aethopyga gouldiae
Silhouette: Rachael Joakim · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
Mrs. Gould's sunbird (Aethopyga gouldiae) is a sunbird species native to forests and shrublands from the southern foothills of the Himalayas to Southeast Asia. Mrs. Gould's sunbird was formally described in 1831 as Cinnyris gouldiae by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Vigors based on a specimen that John Gould had received from India. The specific epithet was chosen to honour the bird artist Elizabeth Gould who had drawn a plate of the bird for publication in the book A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains. Vigors specified the type locality as the Himalayas but this was restricted to the Silma-Almora district (Almora to Shimla in India) by Claud Ticehurst and Hugh Whistler in 1924. Mrs. Gould's sunbird is now one of 21 species placed in the genus Aethopyga that was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis.
Four subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 2 | Jiuzhaigou National Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 3 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 4 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Mrs Gould's Sunbird sighting in Doi Inthanon National Park on a given day, based on 1,519 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 12th most-seen of the 367 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December and January
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Mrs Gould's Sunbird in Doi Inthanon National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June, the lowest month. Those are among Doi Inthanon National Park's driest months, with about 45 mm of rain a month against 340 mm in August.
Between 2 and 5 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mrs Gould's Sunbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Yes
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Mrs Gould's Sunbird sightings, Doi Inthanon National Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Jiuzhaigou National Park (China, about 10%) and Langtang National Park (Nepal, under 5%).
Same genus: Aethopyga
The closest relatives of the Mrs Gould's Sunbird that you can see in Doi Inthanon National Park (genus Aethopyga, Red Sunbirds and Allies) are Green-tailed Sunbird (about 50%) and Black-throated Sunbird (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mrs Gould's Sunbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Doi Inthanon National Park (1,519 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.
