Blue Marsh Hawk

Blue Marsh Hawk

Orthetrum glaucum

Daily sighting probability ~30% · Possible
at Kinabalu Park

In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%

40 Verified sightings at Kinabalu Park From 2019 to 2026
292 In all 14 parks
January Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Blue Marsh Hawk

Orthetrum glaucum is an Asian dragonfly species, common across much of tropical and subtropical Asia. The common name for this species is blue marsh hawk. It is a medium sized dragonfly with dark face and greenish blue eyes. The thorax of old males are dark blue due to pruinescence. Its wings are transparent with dark amber-yellow tint in the extreme base. Its abdomen is pruinosed with blue color up to segment 8; last two segments are black. The abdomens of females and juvenile males are golden in color, with brown stripes along the sides of the thorax. Despite their visual similarities, females and juvenile males can be distinguished by the shape of their final abdomen segment.

It breeds in marshes associated with forest streams, plantations and canals. Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Periyar National Park 🇮🇳 India
~40%
2 Danum Valley Conservation Area 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~30%
3 Gunung Leuser National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~30%
4 Namdapha National Park 🇮🇳 India
~30%
5 Kerinci Seblat National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~30%
6 Kinabalu Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~30%
7 Sinharaja Forest Reserve 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~20%
8 Khao Luang National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~20%
9 Doi Inthanon National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~20%
10 Khao Yai National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~20%
11 Kaeng Krachan National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~20%
12 Khao Sok National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~20%
13 Taroko National Park 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~20%
14 Taman Negara National Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Hong Kong 🇨🇳 China
~30%
2 Dehradun 🇮🇳 India
~20%
3 Singapore 🇸🇬 Singapore
~20%
4 Tuen Mun 🇨🇳 China
~20%
5 Kuala Lumpur 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~10%
6 Taichung 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~10%
7 Taipei 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~10%
8 Xiamen City 🇨🇳 China
~10%
9 Guangzhou 🇨🇳 China
~10%
10 Bandung 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Blue Marsh Hawk in Kinabalu Park?

Possible

About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Blue Marsh Hawk sighting in Kinabalu Park on a given day, based on 40 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 9th most-seen of the 297 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Blue Marsh Hawk in Kinabalu Park?

January and July

In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Blue Marsh Hawk in Kinabalu Park on a given day, against under 5% in August–September and November–December, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Blue Marsh Hawk?

Between 10 am and 1 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue Marsh Hawk sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Which relatives of the Blue Marsh Hawk live in Kinabalu Park?

Same genus: Orthetrum

The closest relatives of the Blue Marsh Hawk that you can see in Kinabalu Park (genus Orthetrum) are Orange Skimmer (about 30%), Orthetrum schneideri (about 20%) and Slender Skimmer (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Blue Marsh Hawk sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Blue Marsh Hawk is recorded against all the insects logged in Kinabalu Park (40 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.

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