Saxicola leucurus
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The white-tailed stonechat (Saxicola leucurus) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. Very similar in plumage to european stonechat (Saxicola rubicola). The male has black head, white collar and bright rufous chest patch. The back and wings are dark, with white on wing coverts and rump. The key differentiating feature from male common stonechat is the white inner webs of outer tail feathers which is visible when the bird spreads the tail in flight or while landing. Note that this may not be visible when the tail is folded. The female is very similar to female european stonechat, but is overall paler with duller rump, tail and wings.
Considered monotypic though there are slight variations in plumage for birds from South Assam Hills (where the birds are darker and large billed) and Pakistan (where chest patch is more reddish). Though sympatric with Asian stonechat in its range, they do not intergrade.
White-tailed stonechats are resident in suitable marshy habitats in the Indus River valley, southern Himalayan foothills, the Terai–Duar savanna and grasslands, Bangladesh, South Assam Hills, Manipur... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 2 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 3 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Delhi | 🇮🇳 India |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-tailed Stonechat sighting in Royal Bardia National Park on a given day, based on 26 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 130th most-seen of the 233 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a White-tailed Stonechat in Royal Bardia National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–March, May and September, the lowest months. Those are among Royal Bardia National Park's driest months, with about 55 mm of rain a month against 590 mm in July. August has 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-tailed Stonechat 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.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate White-tailed Stonechat sightings, Royal Bardia National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Chitwan National Park (Nepal, about 20%).
Same genus: Saxicola
The closest relatives of the White-tailed Stonechat that you can see in Royal Bardia National Park (genus Saxicola, Stonechats and Bushchats) are Pied Bushchat (about 50%), Siberian Stonechat (about 30%) and Grey Bushchat (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-tailed Stonechat is recorded against all the birds logged in Royal Bardia National Park (26 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.
