Niltava sundara
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The rufous-bellied niltava (Niltava sundara) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
Rufous-bellied niltava measures 15–18 cm and weighs 19–24 g. It is a large, stocky and brightly coloured flycatcher with rounded head shape, fairly short tail and broad-based bill. The rufous-breasted niltava is one of six species in the genus Niltava, found in South and Southeast Asia as well as in China. This bird has sometimes been considered to be conspecific with the Fujian niltava and rufous-vented niltava.
It was described by the English naturalist Brian Hodgson in 1837. The specific epithet sundara is a Latinised version of the Hindi word sundar, meaning "beautiful". The bird has also been called the blue-and-orange niltava or black-and-orange niltava, as the male's blue upperparts may look black in poor light. Other names for the bird include orange-bellied niltava, beautiful niltava, or the sundara niltava.
N. s... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 2 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 3 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-bellied Niltava sighting in Namdapha National Park on a given day, based on 56 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 171st 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.
October to December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-bellied Niltava in Namdapha National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January to May, the lowest months. Those are among Namdapha National Park's driest months, with about 80 mm of rain a month against 660 mm in July. June to September have too few records to rate.
Between 2 and 5 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-bellied Niltava sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
4th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Rufous-bellied Niltava sightings, Namdapha National Park ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Langtang National Park (Nepal, about 20%), Doi Inthanon National Park (Thailand, about 20%) and Jim Corbett National Park (India, about 10%).
Same genus: Niltava
The closest relatives of the Rufous-bellied Niltava that you can see in Namdapha National Park (genus Niltava, Niltavas) are Small Niltava (about 30%) and Large Niltava (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rufous-bellied Niltava is recorded against all the birds logged in Namdapha National Park (56 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.
