Ibidorhyncha struthersii
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The ibisbill (Ibidorhyncha struthersii) is a bird related to the waders, but sufficiently distinctive to merit its own family Ibidorhynchidae. It is grey with a white belly, red legs and long down-curved bill, and a black face and black breast band. It occurs on the shingle riverbanks of the high plateaux of central Asia and the Himalayas.
The ibisbill belongs to the order Charadriiformes which also includes the sandpipers, plovers, terns, auks, gulls, skuas and others. In its evolutionary relationships, it appears to be most closely related to a group including the oystercatchers (Haematopodidae), and the avocets and stilts (Recurvirostridae), but sufficiently distinctive to merit its own family, Ibidorhynchidae. It is monotypic, with no subspecies.
The species was described in 1831 by Vigors based on painting by John Gould, although Brian Hodgson had sent a manuscript to the Asiatic Society of Bengal two years earlier describing it as the "Red-billed Erolia" but this was published only in 1835 with an apology from the editor. Hodgson later suggested a new genus name of Clorhynchus for the bird stating that Gould's description of Ibidorhyncha was inaccurate while Vieillot... Wikipedia →
Call0:09
Kyrgyzstan · 2023
© Peter Boesman · XC813423 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Alarm call0:18
China · 2020
© He Wenjin/文进 · XC767516 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording0:09
China · 2006
© guus van duin · Observation.org, Nature data from around the World · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 3 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 4 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Ibisbill sighting in Namdapha National Park on a given day, based on 53 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 176th most-seen of the 298 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Ibisbill in Namdapha National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–May and October–November, the lowest months. That is one of Namdapha National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 660 mm in July. June to September have too few records to rate.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ibisbill sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Ibisbill sightings, Namdapha National Park has the highest daily chance: under 5%. Next come Langtang National Park (Nepal, under 5%) and Royal Manas National Park (Bhutan, under 5%).
Same order: Charadriiformes
The closest relatives of the Ibisbill that you can see in Namdapha National Park (order Charadriiformes, Shorebirds and Allies) are River Lapwing (about 10%), Common Sandpiper (about 10%) and Green Sandpiper (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ibisbill is recorded against all the birds logged in Namdapha National Park (53 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.
