Rhyacornis fuliginosa
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The plumbeous water redstart (Phoenicurus fuliginosus) is a passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is found in South Asia, Southeast Asia and China. Males are slate blue in colour, while females are grey. The bird's common name refers to its colour which resembles lead. They tend to live near fast-moving streams and rivers.
The plumbeous water redstart belongs to the order Passeriformes and the family Muscicapidae. It was previously placed in the genus Rhyacornis but was moved to Phoenicurus based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010. The species consists of two recognized subspecies – Phoenicurus fuliginosus fuliginosus and Phoenicurus fuliginosus affinis. The former was described by Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1831, while the latter was described by William Robert Ogilvie-Grant in 1906 and is found in Taiwan. In China, the female and first-year male redstarts appear more brown at the top, leading to the possibility of classifying them as a separate race tenuirostris.
The plumbeous water redstart is typically 14 centimetres (5.5 in) long in total, with an average weight of 22 grams (0.78... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Rhyacornis fuliginosa sighting in Taroko National Park on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 46th most-seen of the 147 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.
February
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Rhyacornis fuliginosa in Taroko National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–May, July and September–November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rhyacornis fuliginosa 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.
Only Taroko National Park, in our data
Taroko National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Rhyacornis fuliginosa sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Muscicapidae
The closest relatives of the Rhyacornis fuliginosa that you can see in Taroko National Park (family Muscicapidae, Old World Flycatchers, Robins, and Chats) are Collared Bush-Robin (about 40%), Plumbeous Water Redstart (about 30%) and Formosan Whistling-Thrush (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rhyacornis fuliginosa is recorded against all the birds logged in Taroko National Park (16 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.
