Alternative names: Necklaced Laughingthrush; Black-necklaced Laughingthrush
- Garrulax monileger
Identification
With 24 - 31.5cm smaller than the similar Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush1, 3:
- Narrow blackish necklace from ear-coverts across breast
- Crown and upperparts brown (differs in tone in subspecies)
- Tail brown, outher tail feathers black with white tips
- White supercilium
- Unstreaked blackish ear-coverts with whitish central spot
- Dark line through lores
- Whitish belly with rufous to brown flanks
Similar Species
Generally smaller and slimmer than Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush.
Distribution
Patchily distributed from the Himalayas (C Nepal) east over Bhutan, NE India and the hills of Bangladesh to Myanmar and east to S China. Also south to Thailand and Indochina (Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam).1
Common in parts of its range and not globally threatened.1
Taxonomy
10 subspecies are usually recognized1, 2:
- G. m. monileger from Nepal to Bhutan and NE India (except Arunachal Pradesh)
- G. m. badius in NE India (Arunachal Pradesh) and extreme N Myanmar
- G. m. stuarti in SE Myanmar and NW Thailand
- G. m. fuscatus in S Myanmar and W Thailand
- G. m. schauenseei in E Myanmar, N Thailand, N Laos and S China
- G. m. tonkinensis in N Vietnam and SE China
- G. m. melli in SE China
- G. m. schmackeri on Hainan (China)
- G. m. mouhoti in SE Thailand, Cambodia, S Laos and parts of Vietnam
- G. m. pasquieri in C and S Laos and parts of Vietnam
After the proposed reorganisation of the Laughingthrushes this species would remain in the genus Garrulax.1
Habitat
Broadleaf evergreen forest, deciduous forest, also secondary forest, scrub or hedgerows in open land. Up to 1700m, rarely higher.1
Behaviour
Feeds on insects and larvae. Also takes snails, small lizards, berries, small fruits and seeds. Like White-crested Laughingthrush higly gregarious and often in groups of up to 5 birds during breeding season and up to 20 or more outside. Forages also on ground, hacking earth and putting aside leaves. Often in mixed groups (bird-waves) with White-crested Laughingthrush, Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, Black-throated Laughingthrush and Greater Racket-tailed Drongo.1, 3
Breeding season from March to August. The nest is placed about 1 to 4.5 m above ground in bamboo or in a low tree. It's a broad cup (similar to Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush) made of dry bamboo, leaves, twigs and roots. Lays 3 - 5 eggs. Brood parasitism recorded by Chestnut-winged Cuckoo and Jacobin Cuckoo.1
Resident species.1
References
- del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Christie, D.A. eds. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 84-96553-42-6
- Clements James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
- Rasmussen, P.C. and Anderton, J.C. 2005. Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Washington D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Editions. ISBN 84-87334-67-9
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
