Aethopyga gouldiae
Silhouette: Rachael Joakim · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
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 |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mrs Gould's Sunbird sighting in Jiuzhaigou National Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 87th most-seen of the 131 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April to August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mrs Gould's Sunbird in Jiuzhaigou National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to December, the lowest months. Those are among Jiuzhaigou National Park's wettest months, with about 150 mm of rain a month against 15 mm in December. January to March have too few records to rate.
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.
2nd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Mrs Gould's Sunbird sightings, Jiuzhaigou National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Doi Inthanon National Park (Thailand, about 40%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Mrs Gould's Sunbird that you can see in Jiuzhaigou National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Chestnut Thrush (about 60%), Elliot's Laughingthrush (about 60%) and Buff-barred Warbler (about 50%), 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 Jiuzhaigou National Park (12 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.
