Timalia pileata
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The chestnut-capped babbler (Timalia pileata) is a passerine bird of the family Timaliidae. It is monotypic within the genus Timalia. The chestnut-capped babbler is placed as the sole species in the genus Timalia. It is divided into six subspecies with the following distribution:
T. p. bengalensis – lower Himalayas (Uttarakhand in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, northeastern India, and northwestern Myanmar) south to Odisha in India T. p. smithi – northern Myanmar to southern China, northern Thailand and northern Indochina
T. p. intermedia – central and southern Myanmar to southwestern Thailand T. p. patriciae – western part of the central plains of Thailand T. p. dictator – eastern and southeastern Thailand to southern Indochina This species is most closely related to the two Indian species, the tawny-bellied babbler and the dark-fronted babbler. Together they form a sister group to the rest of the species in the family Timaliidae. The chestnut-capped babbler is a medium-sized (15.5–17 cm) babbler with a fairly long, wedge-shaped tail and a thick, black bill. The plumage is unbarred brown with characteristic... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 3 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 5 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 6 | Sundarbans National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 8 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 9 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 11 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chattogram | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 2 | Tamluk | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Phnom Penh | 🇰🇭 Cambodia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Chestnut-capped Babbler sighting in Sundarbans National Park on a given day, based on 116 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 81st most-seen of the 177 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Chestnut-capped Babbler in Sundarbans National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to April, the lowest months. That is one of Sundarbans National Park's wettest months, with about 480 mm of rain against 15 mm in January. May and June have too few records to rate.
Between 1 and 4 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Chestnut-capped Babbler sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
6th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate Chestnut-capped Babbler sightings, Sundarbans National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Manas National Park (India, about 20%), Chitwan National Park (Nepal, about 20%) and Kaziranga National Park (India, about 20%).
Same family: Timaliidae
The closest relatives of the Chestnut-capped Babbler that you can see in Sundarbans National Park (family Timaliidae, Tree-Babblers, Scimitar-Babblers, and Allies) are Pin-striped Tit-Babbler (about 20%) and White-browed Scimitar-Babbler (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Chestnut-capped Babbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Sundarbans National Park (116 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.
