Chaimarrornis leucocephalus
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The white-capped redstart or white-capped water redstart (Phoenicurus leucocephalus) is a passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae native to the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, much of China, and to certain regions of Central Asia.
Both sexes are black with red underparts and white crown atop their heads. Males have a larger white pattern on top of the head and brown or red spots under the wings. It is found in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, as well as some adjoining areas. The species ranges across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tibet and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.
This species was formerly placed in the monotypic genus Chaimarrornis but was moved to Phoenicurus based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010. Wikipedia →
Recording0:08
China · 2024
© Elliot Liu · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 3 | Jiuzhaigou National Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 4 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 5 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 6 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas World Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a White-capped Redstart sighting in Namdapha National Park on a given day, based on 557 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 15th most-seen of the 298 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and October
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a White-capped Redstart in Namdapha National Park on a given day, against about 20% in May, the lowest month. Those are among Namdapha National Park's driest months, with about 150 mm of rain a month against 660 mm in July. June to September have too few records to rate.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-capped Redstart 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 7 parks where we can rate White-capped Redstart sightings, Namdapha National Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Royal Manas National Park (Bhutan, about 40%) and Jiuzhaigou National Park (China, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Muscicapidae
The closest relatives of the White-capped Redstart that you can see in Namdapha National Park (family Muscicapidae, Old World Flycatchers, Robins, and Chats) are Slaty-backed Forktail (about 50%), Blue Whistling-Thrush (about 50%) and Plumbeous Water Redstart (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-capped Redstart is recorded against all the birds logged in Namdapha National Park (557 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.
