Cinclus pallasii
Silhouette: Beth Reinke · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The brown dipper (Cinclus pallasii), also known as Pallas's dipper, Asian dipper or the Asiatic dipper, is an aquatic songbird found in the mountains of the east Palearctic. It is a thrush-like bird with a cocked tail. Its plumage is chocolate-brown with a slightly lighter coloured back and breast. At 22 cm (8.7 in) and 87 g (3.1 oz), it is the largest of the dippers. This species, which is not often seen, is found at medium to low elevations where mountain streams flow.
The brown dipper was described by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1820 and given the binomial name Cinclus pallasii. The type locality is Eastern Siberia. The specific epithet pallasii was chosen in honour of the Prussian naturalist Peter Simon Pallas (1741–1811). Of the five species now placed in the genus, a molecular genetic study has shown that the brown dipper is most closely related to the other Eurasian species, the white-throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus).
There are three subspecies: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 2 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 3 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 4 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 6 | Hemis National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aquamarine Inawashiro Kingfishers Aquarium | 🇯🇵 Japan |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Dipper sighting in Royal Manas National Park on a given day, based on 164 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 89th most-seen of the 388 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Dipper in Royal Manas National Park on a given day, against about 10% in January, March, May–July and October, the lowest months. That is one of Royal Manas National Park's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain against 930 mm in July. August and 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 Brown Dipper sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Brown Dipper sightings, Royal Manas National Park ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Nikko National Park (Japan, about 30%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Brown Dipper that you can see in Royal Manas National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Scarlet Minivet (about 60%), Streaked Spiderhunter (about 60%) and Bronzed Drongo (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown Dipper is recorded against all the birds logged in Royal Manas National Park (164 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.
