Ardea insignis
Silhouette: Giles Laurent · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The white-bellied heron (Ardea insignis) also known as the imperial heron or great white-bellied heron, is a large heron species living in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in northeast India and Bhutan to northern Myanmar. It inhabits undisturbed rivers and wetlands. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2007, because the global population is estimated at fewer than 250 mature individuals and threatened by habitat loss and human disturbance. It is mostly dark grey with a white throat and underparts.
The scientific name Ardea insignis was suggested by Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1844; he had presented a zoological specimen to the British Museum but a description was not published. This name was therefore considered a nomen nudum. In 1878, Allan Octavian Hume described the differences between the white-bellied and the great-billed heron (Ardea sumatrana) while using the binomial name suggested by Hodgson. E. C. Stuart Baker gave the name Ardea imperialis in 1929 to replace Hodgson's nomen nudum. It was used until 1963, when Biswamoy Biswas commented on Sidney Dillon Ripley's synoptic list and noted that Ardea insignis Hume had priority... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 2 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-bellied Heron sighting in Namdapha National Park on a given day, based on 68 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 162nd most-seen of the 298 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and November–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-bellied Heron in Namdapha National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–March, May and October, the lowest months. Those are among Namdapha National Park's driest months, with about 95 mm of rain a month against 660 mm in July. June to September have too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-bellied Heron sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 2 parks where we can rate White-bellied Heron sightings, Namdapha National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Royal Manas National Park (Bhutan, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-bellied Heron is recorded against all the birds logged in Namdapha National Park (68 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.
