Megaceryle lugubris
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The crested kingfisher (Megaceryle lugubris) is a very large kingfisher that is native to parts of southern Asia. It is part of the kingfisher genus Megaceryle with three other species: the giant kingfisher (Megaceryle maxima), the ringed kingfisher (Megaceryle torquata), and the belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) with which it forms a species complex.
The crested kingfisher is a very large, stocky black and white bird, usually between 38 and 43 cm (15 and 17 in) tall, and weighs between 230 and 280 g (8 and 10 oz). It has a large, pointed black bill with a yellowish-white tip and a large, shaggy black and white barred crest. It has finely barred black and white upperparts with flanks barred grey and white, while its belly is white with a black-speckled breastband. It has a white collar that starts at the bottom of the bill and goes to the back of the neck. The tail feathers are black with 6 to 8 white bars. Males and females are the same size but exhibit sexual dimorphism in their plumage. Females have bright pink-cinnamon underwing coverts washed with pale rufous, while males lack this and instead have rufus-orange feathers on the breastband.
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| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 3 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xi'an | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 2 | Shijiazhuang | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 3 | Beijing | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 4 | Srinagar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Dehradun | 🇮🇳 India |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Crested Kingfisher sighting in Royal Manas National Park on a given day, based on 175 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 90th 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.
October and December
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Crested Kingfisher in Royal Manas National Park on a given day, against about 10% in January–February, April and June, the lowest months. Those are among Royal Manas National Park's driest months, with about 70 mm of rain a month against 930 mm in July. August and September have too few records to rate.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Crested Kingfisher sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Crested Kingfisher sightings, Royal Manas National Park ranks 2nd at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Jim Corbett National Park (India, about 20%).
Same family: Alcedinidae
The closest relatives of the Crested Kingfisher that you can see in Royal Manas National Park (family Alcedinidae, Kingfishers) are White-throated Kingfisher (about 30%) and Common Kingfisher (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Crested Kingfisher is recorded against all the birds logged in Royal Manas National Park (175 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.
