Pere David's Laughingthrush
Pterorhinus davidi
A plain clay-brown laughingthrush with a long, curved yellow bill. Largely without distinguishing plumage features, but note weak white brow, blue-gray tinge to the wings, and small black patches on the “elbow” and face. The only laughingthrush in much of its range. Forages in hilly and montane regions, where it often moves about noisily in medium-sized flocks in scrubby, brushy habitat, often near waterways. Long rambling song melodious and thrush-like; calls include fluid whistles, nasal chattering, and quiet peeping.
Taxonomy
The plain laughingthrush was described by the English zoologist Robert Swinhoe in 1868 from a specimen collected in Beijing, China. He coined the binomial name Pterorhinus davidi. The specific epithet honours the French missionary Armand David (1826-1900) who worked in China between 1858 and 1874. This species was normally placed in the genus Garrulax but following the publication of a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study in 2018, the genus Pterorhinus was resurrected and plain laughingthrush was returned to its original genus.
- Scientific name
- Pterorhinus davidi
- Authority
- Swinhoe, 1868
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Leiothrichidae
- Genus
- Pterorhinus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Jade-green pitta with densely striped, green underparts and a black mask. Male has an aquamarine-blue patch on the back of the crown and a dark purplish-blue one on the belly. Female lacks both of these features and instead has a pale orangish head. Like other pittas, forages deep in dense undergrowth and can be hard to see, especially in the limestone gullies and forested riversides it prefers. Predominantly a lowland species. Song is a brief, bubbly-sounding exclamation of three notes, akin to “chowee-wu!”. Call sounds rather like a single blare of a police car alarm.
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Small, skulking wren of foothills and lowlands in southern Mexico and Central America. Found in forest edges, second-growth thickets, and brushy fields with cane grass. Heard more often than seen: song relatively short with bright phrases usually repeated a few times in quick succession. Note the bold white eyebrow, whitish breast, rich buffy flanks, and bright rusty tail barred black. Formerly known as Plain Wren.
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