Graphium doson
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Graphium doson, the common jay, is a black, tropical papilionid (swallowtail) butterfly with pale blue semi-transparent central wing bands that are formed by large spots. There is a marginal series of smaller spots. The underside of wings is brown with markings similar to upperside but whitish in colour. The sexes look alike. The species was first described by father and son entomologists Cajetan and Rudolf Felder.
It is widespread and common throughout Southeast Asia, including lower elevations in Sri Lanka and southern India, Eastern Ghats, Satpuras, Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh, and the Himalayan foothills. The species is however scarce in southern Honshū, Japan. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cuc Phuong National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 2 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 3 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 4 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Bali Barat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 6 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 7 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 8 | Khao Sok National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 9 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Common Jay sighting in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 29th most-seen of the 117 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Common Jay in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in May, July and September–January, the lowest months. That is one of Sinharaja Forest Reserve's driest months, with about 150 mm of rain against 490 mm in November.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Jay sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Common Jay sightings, Sinharaja Forest Reserve ranks 4th at about 20%. The best odds are in Cuc Phuong National Park (Vietnam, about 30%), Cat Tien National Park (Vietnam, about 30%) and Kaeng Krachan National Park (Thailand, about 20%).
Same genus: Graphium
The closest relatives of the Common Jay that you can see in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (genus Graphium, Swordtails, Jays, Bluebottles and allies) are Tailed Jay (about 20%) and Five-Bar Swordtail (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Jay is recorded against all the insects logged in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (13 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.
