Attractive medium-sized laughingthrush with a gray body, golden-yellow wings, dark face, and chestnut crown. Also note dark orangish “bib”, the color of which varies by range; northern birds have the brightest patches. Namesake silver ear patches are rather rounded and blend smoothly into the gray of the neck. Scratches around noisily in dense undergrowth, often singly, or in pairs or small flocks; may come out into the open in areas where routinely fed and habituated to people. Found in montane and hill forests, as well as forest edges with dense low growth. Gives a mellow “wowee-wowEER!”