Melanochlora sultanea
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The sultan tit (Melanochlora sultanea) is an Asian forest bird with black upperparts plumage and yellow underparts, dark bill, and (depending on subspecies) a yellow or black crest. The sexes are similar, though the female has slightly duller plumage with greenish-black upperparts and throat. The young bird is duller than the adult and has a shorter crest. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Melanochlora, which is fairly distinct from other tits, third-basal in the family Paridae after Cephalopyrus and Sylviparus.
The sultan tit forages mostly on invertebrates and larvae. The food sources are grasshoppers, mantises and web spiders, in addition to berries, other fruits and seeds. The search for food is mostly in the tree canopy, but sometimes also in higher undergrowth and bamboo areas.
Sultan tits appear often in small associations of up to twelve individuals and socialize with other species like warblers. The male has the forehead and crown with the crest brilliant yellow (except glossy black in one subspecies); the whole upper plumage, sides of the head and neck, chin, throat, and breast-deep black glossed with... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 3 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 4 | Cuc Phuong National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 5 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 7 | Khao Luang National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 8 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 9 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sultan Tit sighting in Khao Yai National Park on a given day, based on 152 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 138th most-seen of the 278 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.
July and November–May
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sultan Tit in Khao Yai National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June and August–October, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sultan Tit sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
6th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Sultan Tit sightings, Khao Yai National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Namdapha National Park (India, about 50%), Royal Manas National Park (Bhutan, about 30%) and Kaeng Krachan National Park (Thailand, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Sultan Tit that you can see in Khao Yai National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Black-crested Bulbul (about 80%), Asian Fairy-bluebird (about 60%) and Gray-eyed Bulbul (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sultan Tit is recorded against all the birds logged in Khao Yai National Park (152 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.
