Ashy-headed laughingthrush

Ashy-headed laughingthrush
In Sinharaja Forest Reserve in the south-west of Sri Lanka
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Leiothrichidae
Genus:	Argya
Species:	A. cinereifrons
Binomial name
Argya cinereifrons (Blyth, 1851)
Synonyms
Garrulax cinereifrons

The ashy-headed laughingthrush (Argya cinereifrons) is a member of the family Leiothrichidae. The laughingthrushes are a large family of Old World passerine birds characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in southeast Asia.

Ashy-headed laughingthrush in Sinharaja Forest Reserve

Taxonomy

The ashy-headed laughingthrush was formerly placed in the genus Garrulax but following the publication of a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study in 2018, it was moved to the resurrected genus Argya.[2][3]

Description

The ashy-headed laughingthrush is a rangy bird, 23 centimetre (9 in) in length with a long floppy tail. It is rufous brown above and deep buff below, with a grey head and white throat. Like other babblers, these are noisy birds, and the characteristic laughing calls are often the best indication that they are present, since they are often difficult to see in their preferred habitat.

Distribution and habitat

The ashy-headed laughingthrush is a resident breeding bird endemic to Sri Lanka. Its habitat is rainforest, and it is seldom seen away from deep jungle or dense bamboo thickets in the wet zone. This species, like most babblers, is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight.

Although its habitat is under threat, this laughingthrush occurs in all the forests of the wet zone, and is quite common at prime sites like Kitulgala and Sinharaja. It builds its nest in a bush, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is three or four eggs.

Behaviour

As with other babbler species, ashy-headed laughingthrushes frequently occur in groups of up to a dozen, and are also often found in the mixed feeding flocks typical of tropical Asian jungle. They feed mainly on insects, but also eat jungle berries.

In culture

In Sri Lanka, this bird is known as alu demalichcha ("ash-babbler") in Sinhala language.[4] The ashy-headed laughingthrush appears on a 3 rupee Sri Lankan postal stamp,.[5]

References

1. BirdLife International (2020). "Garrulax cinereifrons". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22715586A177454762. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22715586A177454762.en. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
2. Cibois, A.; Gelang, M.; Alström, P.; Pasquet, E.; Fjeldså, J.; Ericson, P.G.P.; Olsson, U. (2018). "Comprehensive phylogeny of the laughingthrushes and allies (Aves, Leiothrichidae) and a proposal for a revised taxonomy". Zoologica Scripta. 47 (4): 428–440. doi:10.1111/zsc.12296. S2CID 51883434.
3. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2023). "Laughingthrushes and allies". World Bird List. 13.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
4. Anonymous (1998). "Vernacular Names of the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent" (PDF). Buceros. 3 (1): 53–109. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-04-01.
5. "Birds on stamps: Sri Lanka".

• Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
• A Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Kazmierczak (au) and van Perlo (il), ISBN 0-300-07921-4