Palani Laughingthrush Montecincla fairbanki Scientific name definitions

20·5 cm. Small laughingthrush, dull olive-brown above with white supercilium, grey-streaked whitish breast and rufous-chestnut lower underparts. Adult has crown dark brown, upperparts shading from brown-tinged dark olive on nape to ochre-tinged dark olive on rump, with upperwing and tail olive-brown; white supercilium, pale greyish-brown lores and short postocular eyestripe; pale grey ear-coverts, lower face, neck-side and breast-side, grey-streaked whitish chin to mid-breast, rufous-chestnut remaining underparts; iris crimson or reddish brown; bill dull black or horn-brown; legs plumbeous-brown. Sexes similar. Juvenile has paler crown and nape than adult, lower breast tinged rufous, ear-coverts browner, iris brownish.

Until very recently treated as conspecific with T. meridionale (see that species) and before that with T. cachinnans including T. jerdoni. Monotypic.

S Western Ghats from Palghat Gap S to Achankovil Gap, in SE Kerala and SW Tamil Nadu, SW India.

Thickets lining streams through tea and cardamom plantations, scrub and secondary forest, occasionally gardens, edges of broadleaf evergreen forest, range apparently coinciding with occurrence of wild raspberry (Rubus); recorded at 1200–2600 m.

Resident.

Insects, berries and fruit, including brambles (Rubus), Maesa, Luvunga and Trema. Forages in parties of 6–14 individuals, sometimes up to 30, and may join bird waves. Forages in undergrowth and low bushes, occasionally descending to ground to search among leaf litter.

Song consists of short, mellow, clear, slurred notes, starting with 1–2 steeply ascending, hesitant questioning “quweét” notes, joined in duet by slightly descending series of more abrupt notes “kweer-kweer-(kweer, kweer)”; also a more complex “kleer-eeet”, perhaps duetted, the first note strongly downslurred, the second level. Calls include irregularly uttered, very short, subdued, dry, musical, nervous “ptr’trit” or slightly longer “ptr’tr’tr’trit”.

Season Dec–Jun. Nest, built by both sexes, a cup made of coarse grasses, moss and bracken leaves, lined with fine grasses, placed up to 3 m above ground in bush or among tall bracken. Clutch two eggs, pale greenish blue to pale blue, rather thinly marked with spots, small blotches, lines and scrawls of brownish and reddish purple to bright claret (very similar/identical to those of T. cachinnans); incubation by both sexes, nestlings fed by both sexes; no information on duration of incubation and nestling periods.

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near Threatened. Restricted-range species: present in Western Ghats EBA. Although this species’ range is small, its tolerance of disturbed habitats suggests that it is not immediately threatened by habitat modification. Increasing human population, however, has led to increased illegal encroachment into Western Ghat forests, livestock grazing, and the harvesting of fuelwood and huge quantities of forest products, such as bamboo and canes. Furthermore, hydropower development and road-building are causing reductions in forest cover in some areas.