Halcyon pileata
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The black-capped kingfisher (Halcyon pileata) is a tree kingfisher which is widely distributed in tropical Asia from India east to China, Korea and Southeast Asia. This most northerly of the tree kingfishers is resident over much of its range, but northern populations are migratory, wintering south of their range in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Borneo and Java. It is distinctive in having a black cap that contrasts with the whitish throat, purple-blue wings and the coral red bill. The species is mainly found in coastal and mangrove habitats but can sometimes be found far inland.
The black-capped kingfisher was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux in 1780. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle, which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name, but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Alcedo pileata in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. The type... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sundarbans National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Wilpattu National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Khao Sok National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 4 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 5 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 6 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 7 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 8 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bangkok | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 2 | Yangon | 🇲🇲 Myanmar | |
| 3 | Kozhikode | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Guangzhou | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 5 | Phnom Penh | 🇰🇭 Cambodia | |
| 6 | Thiruvananthapuram | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Ponnani | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Shanghai | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 9 | Mumbai | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black-capped Kingfisher sighting in Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary on a given day, based on 48 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 149th most-seen of the 231 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–March and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-capped Kingfisher in Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary on a given day, against under 5% in April–October and December, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-capped Kingfisher sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
5th of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Black-capped Kingfisher sightings, Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Sundarbans National Park (India, about 50%), Wilpattu National Park (Sri Lanka, about 10%) and Khao Sok National Park (Thailand, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-capped Kingfisher is recorded against all the birds logged in Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (48 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.
