Red-tailed laughingthrush

Photo by David Blank (Animal Diversity Web)

Common name:
red-tailed laughingthrush (en); zaragateiro-de-cauda-vermelha (pt); garrulaxe à queue rouge (fr); charlatán colirrojo (es); rotschwanzhäherling (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Timaliidae

Range:
The red-tailed laughingthrush is found in south-eastern Asia, from southern China to Myanmar, Laos, northern Thailand and Vietnam.

Size:
These birds are 25-28 cm long and weigh 100-130 g.

Habitat:
The red-tailed laughingthrush is mostly found in tropical and sub-tropical moist forests, but also in temperate forests and high altitude grasslands and scrublands. They ar present at altitudes of 610-2.500 m.

Diet:
They mainly feed on seeds and small fruits, but will also take some insects and other invertebrates.

Breeding:
Red-tailed laughingthrushes breed in April-July. They nest in an open cup made of sticks and grasses, placed in dense forests undergrowth. The female lays 2-4 white eggs with reddish-brown or black dots, which are incubated for 13-16 days. The chicks fledge 35-45 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status – LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range, but is described as rather uncommon to rare. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction and fragmentation, but it is not considered threatened at present.