Ashy-headed Laughingthrush
Argya cinereifrons
Medium-sized, rufous babbler with a gray hood, beady pale eye, buff throat patch, and blackish bill and legs. Gregarious, usually encountered within small groups low in the understory, or on the ground, in wet forests of the lowlands and foothills. Can join mixed species flocks. Mixture of gray head, black bill and legs, and paler buff underside identify it from all other babblers on Sri Lanka. Variety of untidy vocalizations given, including scratchy notes, whistles, squeals, metallic “churrs” and “chirps”, and chattering calls, all given in combination.
Identification
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.
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.
- Scientific name
- Argya cinereifrons
- Authority
- (Blyth, 1851)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Leiothrichidae
- Genus
- Argya
Range 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.<p>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.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
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.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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