Rufous-vented Laughingthrush Pterorhinus gularis Scientific name definitions

23–25·5 cm. Medium-sized longish-billed skulking laughingthrush, grey on crown and flanks, rusty brown on upper­parts and thighs, with black mask and primrose-yellow throat to belly. Crown  is dull olive-tinged mid-grey (forehead with yellow tinge), this extending down side of neck onto upper and middle flanks, where colour paler, and shading abruptly into dull chestnut on upperparts and upperwing, tail slaty centrally with bright rufous outer feathers; face mask  formed by black of lores extending backwards as short supra­ocular supercilium and cheek patch onto upper ear-coverts; black interramal spot, rest of chin, throat, submoustachial area and lower ear-coverts to mid-breast and mid-belly primrose-yellow (becoming off-white in museum specimens), lower flanks and vent rufous-tan; iris reddish-brown to bright red, orbital skin and rounded triangular skin patch behind eye ochre-yellow or dark slate (significance of difference unknown); bill dull slaty black to dull blackish-horn, paler base; legs yellow-ochre to bright reddish-yellow. Sexes similar. Juvenile is initially much brighter rufescent overall than adult, with rufous-fringed brown crown, and bright rusty sides and breast.

Broadleaf evergreen forest, secondary growth, scrub, sometimes bamboo; 90–1220 m in NE India, but reaching 1300 m in Bhutan; 300–1220 m in SE Asia.

Resident.

Mostly insects, also berries and seeds. Found in quite vocal flocks of 6–15 and sometimes up to 40–50 individuals; sometimes associates with other laughingthrushes. Forages mostly on ground, occasionally ascends small understorey trees. Scratches among leaf litter. Skulking and very shy.

Flocks utter harsh rattling churrs interspersed with rather nasal, discordant, high-pitched whistled phrases. Possible songs include clear, very sweet, chiming, slightly upslurred and then strongly downslurred whistles, “fwééúuuu”, and more prolonged, elastic-sounding “fwééúúuueééé” (strongly upslurred near end). Also, indistinct mellow squabbling and chattering notes from flocks.

Apr–Jul. Nest reportedly a bulky, shallow, rather untidy cup, made of tendrils, twigs, creepers and roots, lined with black fern and moss roots, placed 1–6 m above ground in bush or sapling. Clutch 2–3 eggs, white to very pale blue or pale blue-green. No other information.

Not globally threatened. Rare in E Bhutan (at W edge of species’ range). Status in India poorly understood, but locally not uncommon in Assam and fairly common in Namdapha National Park, in Arunachal Pradesh. Generally local in SE Asian range. Present in Vu Quang Nature Reserve, in Vietnam. Claimed record from SE Bangladesh now withdrawn.