Chestnut Crowned Laughingthrush

A very common resident of the Eastern Himalayas is the Chestnut Crowned Laughingthrush. Mostly found in the higher elevations the Chestnut Crowned Laughingthrush is a very beautiful bird belonging to the family of babblers. These birds are binomially known as Garrulax erythrocephalus. They have a chestnut crown, brown scaly belly, yellow wings, and tail.

Like all babblers, Chestnut Crowned Laughingthrush also forages for food in the undergrowth of dense broadleaved forests. They can be seen turning fallen leaves under ferns and bushes. Their diet primarily consists of insects, crustaceans, and small reptiles.

Chestnut Crowned Laughingthrush is usually seen in flocks of 10 or more. But during breeding season the couples stay away from the rest of the flock. Males can be seen grooming and caressing their partners. They are very affectionate towards their partners.

The call of a Chestnut Crowned Laughingthrush is a distinct “too, reeee, rurrrr”, and the alarm call is “muuuurrrrrrr".

These birds are called bhyakura in Nepali. As we already know that all birds belonging to the Babbler family are called by this general name. And measures should be taken to give proper standardized names to different species for their proper identification.