Striated Laughingthrush Grammatoptila striata Scientific name definitions

29.5–34 cm; 123–148 g. Large, bulky laughingthrush, brown with thin white streaks, bushy crest and stout bill. Nominate subspecies has crown chestnut, with feathers long, broad and erectile in floppy crest; upperparts dull rufescent brown with bold white shaft streaks, wing fringes and tail dull rufescent brown; head side from above eye to chin and throat chestnut-chocolate with bold whitish shaft streaks, upper breast and neck side similar but paler, mid-breast to lower underparts buffy with long white streaks, dirty ochraceous on lower flanks, thighs and vent; iris brownish-pink to dull brick, orbital skin plumbeous; bill blackish-brown or dark horn, lower mandible paler; legs dull bluish-slate to grayish-brown. Sexes similar. Juvenile is warmer above than adult, streaks on underparts narrower and fainter. Subspecies vibex has upperparts very slightly darker than nominate, underparts darker, shaft streaks on breast and belly narrower; sikkimensis is darker still, with less contrast between crown and upperparts, wing fringes and tail more chestnut, shaft streaks below narrower; brahmaputra is duller-crowned than previous, crown less streaked and with broad blackish-brown lateral crownstripe, paler upperparts with more obvious paler dull rufous-brown to olive-brown fringing, less pronounced streaking, more contrasting breast-feather pattern, less pronounced streaking below; cranbrooki is like last, but with broader blackish lateral crownstripe, less obvious streaking on forehead and above eye, duller streaking on rest of head.

Commonly placed in genus Garrulax, but molecular data confirm present arrangement (1 Moyle, R. G., M. J. Andersen, C. H. Oliveros, F. D. Steinheimer, and S. Reddy (2012). Phylogeny and biogeography of the core babblers (Aves: Timaliidae). Systematic Biology 61(4):631–651. Close ). Five subspecies recognized.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Broadleaf evergreen forest, secondary forest, scrub-jungle, thickets, bamboo and wooded patches around villages; found at 600–3,060 m (mostly above ca. 1,000), upper limit coinciding with that of cool broadleaf forest.

Resident; alleged altitudinal movements in winter near Dehra Dun (northern India) require substantiation.

Insects, including beetles (Coleoptera); berries and seeds, including bramble (Rubus lineatus), aromatic wintergreens (Gaultheria), Maesa, and Embelia, flowers of certain vervains (Clerodendron) and rhododendron, and gelatinous lichen. More arboreal than most laughingthrushes, foraging mainly in middle story to lower canopy, feeding in canopy of tall trees as well as in lower branches and undergrowth. Occurs singly, in pairs, or in parties of 5–8 individuals, often in association with other laughingthrushes and often at fruiting trees (where up to 50 recorded together).

Song a repeated loud, vibrant, rolling “prrrit-you, prrit-pri-prii’u;” described also as “whit, whit, duwhích-whéét-whééwwhuu-shtíck!” (“duwhích” burry, other main notes steeply slurred), with variants including “krrrrwhit!, kwit-kwit-wheeuuw” (“krrrrwhit!” very burry and upslurred, next 2 notes upslurred, last downslurred). When agitated, emits low grumbling “aawh, aawh, aawh’o aawh, aawh…” Calls include soft, nervous, quite high-pitched “wer-wer-wer-wer-wer;” “wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh;” “wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh wu-wúh,” and gentle, rising “wu-wiw;” also, an emphasized, harsh, upslurred short grumbling “gréíp-gréíp-gréíp…”

April–August. Nest a broad, usually shallow, strongly made cup, of coarse grasses, twigs, creeper stems, rootlets, dead leaves, green moss and green fern fronds, lined with coarse roots, fine black roots and dry grasses, placed 1–6.1 m above ground in sapling, branches of larger tree or among climbing plants. Clutch 2–3 eggs (usually 2 in India), very pale greenish-blue or bluish-green, sometimes almost white, usually unmarked but sometimes a few very dark brownish-red specks; incubation by both sexes. No other information.

Not globally threatened. Locally common in Nepal. Abundant and widespread in Bhutan, where density of 5 territories/km of road recorded at 1,600–1,900 m, and present in Thrumshingla National Park. Locally common in India, where present on New Forest campus at Dehra Dun and uncommon in Dehra Dun valley (Uttaranchal), in Buxa Tiger Reserve (West Bengal), and in Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary and Mouling National Park (Arunachal Pradesh). Uncommon to locally common in Myanmar. In China, apparently rare in Gaoligongshan range, in western Yunnan.