Shashank Dalvi and I made a 4-day visit to the Fakim / Saramati areas of East Nagaland between 18-22 May. We were based in Pungro town and accessed the nearby habitats. In addition to a lot of specialities we unearthed on our last trip to Nagaland with Sumit Sen and Bikram Grewal (see January trip report here), we were thrilled to sight three poorly known laughing thrushes -- all in degraded habitat. I photographed the Moustached [Ashy] and Yellow-throated (attached) and Shashank recorded calls of Moustached [Ashy] and Spot-breasted.
It would be great to get viewer comments on these birds especially sighting records. Some quick notes on these laughers:
1. Moustached [Ashy] -- Sumit Sen reported this from Mizoram in Feb 2005. Shashank recorded its calls and two types of song. What was interesting about the Ashy was its atypical laughing thrush behavior. It preferred pine branches in addition to the usual thick undergrowth in the degraded slopes. We had three sightings on this bird hopping and feeding in pine branches. To see the bird multiple times out in the open was surprising given the number of guns going around in the outskirts of Pungro. Shashank was shocked out of his wits when he heard a gunshot next to him that attempted to kill the very bird he was recording.
2. Spot-breasted -- The last confirmed reporting was a dead bird from Changlang district in Arunachal Pradesh by Tanmay Ghosh in 2007 (see image here).
3. Yellow-throated -- this got recently split from the chinese Blue-crowned Laughingthrush or Courtois's Laughingbird (Garrulax courtoisi). There was a recent sighting of this species (G galbanus) is by Jonathan Eames from Chin Hills in Burma. No other known confirm sightings from India or nearby. The birds we photographed had a striking white vent (some guides show yellow) and a blue patch behind the eye.
A detailed trip report is being compiled.
Comments welcome.
Cheers,
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