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Chestnut-backed Laughingthrush - BirdForum Opus

(Redirected from Pterorhinus nuchalis)
Photo by firozhussain
Digboi, Assam, India, February 2017

Alternative names: Ogle's Laughingthrush

Pterorhinus nuchalis

Dryonastes nuchalis
Garrulax nuchalis

Identification

23 - 26cm. A medium-sized laughingthrush:

  • Grey crown
  • Broad whitish ear-coverts
  • Black face and throat stripe
  • Rufous to rufous-chestnut nape and upper mantle
  • Small white mark behind short bristly black forehead feathers

Sexes similar, juveniles undescribed.

Photo by James Eaton
Digboi Oilfields, Assam, India, April 2010

Distribution

Found in northeast India (southeast Arunachal Pradesh, east Assam and Nagaland) and north Burma.
Uncommon and rarely seen by birdwatchers as the area is seldom visited.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species[1].
May form a superspecies with similar Black-throated Laughingthrush and has been considered conspecific.
This species is sometimes placed in the genus Ianthocincla or in Dryonastes.

Habitat

Thickets, second growth, scrub-jungle, tall grass, bamboo, abandoned cultivation, edge of broadleaf evergreen forest. Found from the lowlands up to 915m.

Behaviour

Resident species.

Diet

Feeds on insects.
Usually seen in small groups, sometimes together with other laughingthrushes. Skulking behaviour, forages mostly on the ground in dense vegetation.

Breeding

Breeding season March to July. A reported nest was a compact cup made of bracken, dead leaves and broad grass blades. It was placed in a dense bush, around 1m above the ground. Lays 2 - 3 eggs.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553422
  3. Rasmussen, PC and JC Anderton. 2005. Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334672

Recommended Citation

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