Cinclus pallasii
Silhouette: Beth Reinke · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The brown dipper (Cinclus pallasii), also known as Pallas's dipper, Asian dipper or the Asiatic dipper, is an aquatic songbird found in the mountains of the east Palearctic. It is a thrush-like bird with a cocked tail. Its plumage is chocolate-brown with a slightly lighter coloured back and breast. At 22 cm (8.7 in) and 87 g (3.1 oz), it is the largest of the dippers. This species, which is not often seen, is found at medium to low elevations where mountain streams flow.
The brown dipper was described by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1820 and given the binomial name Cinclus pallasii. The type locality is Eastern Siberia. The specific epithet pallasii was chosen in honour of the Prussian naturalist Peter Simon Pallas (1741–1811). Of the five species now placed in the genus, a molecular genetic study has shown that the brown dipper is most closely related to the other Eurasian species, the white-throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus).
There are three subspecies: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 2 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 3 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 4 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 6 | Hemis National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aquamarine Inawashiro Kingfishers Aquarium | 🇯🇵 Japan |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Dipper sighting in Langtang National Park on a given day, based on 63 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 72nd most-seen of the 225 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.
December
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Dipper in Langtang National Park on a given day, against about 10% in February–March, June and September–November, the lowest months. That is one of Langtang National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 390 mm in July.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown Dipper sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Brown Dipper sightings, Langtang National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Nikko National Park (Japan, about 30%) and Royal Manas National Park (Bhutan, about 20%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Brown Dipper that you can see in Langtang National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Large-billed Crow (about 70%), Blue Whistling-Thrush (about 70%) and Streaked Laughingthrush (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown Dipper is recorded against all the birds logged in Langtang National Park (63 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.
