Spodiopsar cineraceus
Silhouette: Rafael Maia · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The white-cheeked starling or grey starling (Spodiopsar cineraceus) is a passerine bird of the starling family. It is native to eastern Asia where it is a common and well-known bird in much of its range. The white-cheeked starling was formerly placed in the genus Sturnus. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2008 found that the genus was polyphyletic. In the reoganization to create monotypic genera, the white-cheeked starling and the red-billed starling were moved to the resurrected genus Spodiopsar that had been introduced in 1889 by Richard Bowdler Sharpe. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
White-cheeked starlings are 24 cm in length. The adult male is mainly dark grey-brown with a paler belly and a whitish band across the rump. The head is blackish with whitish cheeks and forehead. There is a white border to the tail and white markings on the secondary wing feathers. The legs are pale orange and the bill is orange with a black tip. Adult females are similar to the males but paler and duller.
The juvenile is brown with pale cheeks and rump and no black tip to the bill. The loud, monotonous call is a series of harsh, creaking... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 2 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | |
| 3 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ueno Zoo | 🇯🇵 Japan |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-cheeked Starling sighting in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 102nd most-seen of the 122 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-cheeked Starling in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June–September and December, the lowest months. January–April and October–November have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-cheeked Starling sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate White-cheeked Starling sightings, Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Nikko National Park (Japan, about 10%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the White-cheeked Starling that you can see in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Horned Lark (about 70%), Isabelline Wheatear (about 70%) and White-winged Snowfinch (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-cheeked Starling is recorded against all the birds logged in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park (7 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.
