Gabela Akalat

Medium-sized robin of Sumatra’s montane and foothill forests. Male is dark slaty-blue, with a bright white spot on the forehead. Female is warm earthy cinnamon-brown, with a slight grayish wash on the lower belly. Dark belly and male’s white forehead (instead of eyebrow) serve to distinguish this species from blue robins and shortwings. Shy and furtive, typically moving about quietly on or close to the ground, often in pairs. Song consists of a short, rising series of beautiful musical, fluty notes.

Shy skulker with golden wings and a long golden tail. Eastern populations in China have a gray head and orange crown, while western populations in far northeastern India and Myanmar have a dark rusty head. Forages on the ground in small flocks in dense brushy understory, sometimes with other laughingthrushes. Song is a repetitive series of inflected notes, including a wolf-whistle-like “whi’wi’er-wee!” and a shorter “whi’wi’eeer!”

A fairly small, long-tailed bird of forest midstory from the lowlands to the lower mountains. Rufous belly, gray upperparts and crown, white facial markings and dotted wing bars. Forages actively like other fantails, with tail cocked, fanned, wings drooped and often switching from side to side. Often joins mixed flocks. Similar to Northern and Friendly Fantails, but Chestnut-bellied has rufous underparts. It is usually found at lower elevations than Friendly. Song, a long, descending, quavering note.