White-cheeked Laughingthrush (Pterorhinus vassali), family Leiothrichidae, order Passeriformes, Dalat, Vietnam

January Endangered birds 4 (#63) - the Bugun Liocichla (CR)

Somehow, this bird was undiscovered until 1995! It took several surveys before it was seen again ten years later and described. As far as we know, they are restricted to a teeny tiny area at the East end of the Himalayas.

White-browed Laughingthrush

this is the scaly chatterer, also known as the bare-eyed babbler; native to far eastern central Africa, ranging roughly from northern Somalia to Tazania. i believe "scaly" comes from their distinctly rounded and separated head, neck, and chest feathers. "babbler" is far from a strictly taxonomic label, being assigned to many unrelated bird clades; this critter is from the family Leiothrichidae, generally known as laughingthrushes. babblers have historically been used as a "wastebasket taxon", into which particularly puzzling critters are placed so that they stop giving taxonomists headaches. before the advent of genome sequencing, these were more extensively used, as there was no concrete way to confirm genetic connections. they're still in use today, though i do hope things improve. (stares pointedly at Protista)

these critters are primarily insectivores, one of the traits which most "babblers" share. scrub dwellers, spending most of their time in dense thickets of often thorny vegetation. virtually never alone, typically found in the company of several other scaly chatterers. they're active foragers, but rather inconspicuous, blending in splendidly with their preferred environment. they make extensive use of contact calls within their groups, a social animal adaptation i'm fairly fond of - humans use them extensively! hearing vocalizations of same-species organisms is comforting because they imply there's nothing to hide from - i suspect that's why watching videos while eating is such a popular thing nowadays. scaly chatterer calls are high, plaintive whistles eBird describes as sounding "like a dry twig scraping on a windowpane," though it's quite a bit more pleasant in my opinion. the original text description of them states they're "probably plentiful, but difficult to see."

15 July 2026

White-throated Laughingthrush (Pterorhinus albogularis)