Melanocichla calva
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The bare-headed laughingthrush (Melanocichla calva) is a species of bird in the Old World babbler family Timaliidae. It is endemic to highland forests at elevations of 750–1,800 m (2,460–5,910 ft) in the mountain ranges of north-central Borneo, along with some outlying peaks. It is 25–26 cm (9.8–10.2 in) long, with both sexes similar in appearance. The head is brownish to greenish yellow and featherless. The area along the lower mandible has a bluish tinge. The rest of the body is dull blackish-brown tinged with grey. Juveniles have more feathers on the head, extending from the forehead to the crown.
Described by the British ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1888, the bare-headed laughingthrush was then treated as a subspecies of the black laughingthrush from 1935 to 2006, when it was restored to full species status. It feeds on insects such as crickets, cicadas, and ants in dense columns of vegetation formed by vines growing around trees. Although it is classified as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, it is threatened by habitat destruction and fragmentation and its population is thought to be decreasing. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kinabalu Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bare-headed Babbler sighting in Kinabalu Park on a given day, based on 377 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 55th most-seen of the 247 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Bare-headed Babbler in Kinabalu Park on a given day, against under 5% in December and January, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bare-headed Babbler 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 Kinabalu Park, in our data
Kinabalu Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Bare-headed Babbler sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bare-headed Babbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Kinabalu Park (377 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.
