Handsome large laughingthrush with a dark cap and throat. Wings and tail are coffee-colored with blue-gray highlights along the edges. Black-and-white spotting on the upper body is densest on the back and breast. Combination of dark throat and cap is unique. Moves in pairs and small flocks through the undergrowth in open forest and scrubby areas at high altitude. Listen for its often piercingly loud, somewhat disjointed-sounding whistles coming from dense bamboo or rhododendron groves.