Red-tailed laughingthrush
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Red-tailed Laughingthrush 0A2A2723.jpg
| image_caption = In the Ngọc Linh Nature Reserve, Vietnam
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| taxon = Trochalopteron milnei
| authority = David, A, 1874
| synonyms =
- Garrulax milnei (David, 1874)
}}
The red-tailed laughingthrush (Trochalopteron milnei) is a species of bird in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae. It is found in the montane forests of Myanmar, Laos, southern China and central Vietnam
Taxonomy
The red-tailed laughingthrush was formally described in 1874 by the French Catholic priest and naturalist Armand David under the current binomial name Trochalopteron milnei. He had discovered the species in west Fujian province, China.{{ cite journal | last=David | first=Armand | author-link=Armand David | date=1874 | title=Description de quelques oiseaux de Chine | language=French | journal=Annales des Sciences Naturelles. Zoologie | series=Series 5 | volume=19 | issue=9 | pages=1-5 [4] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33089249 }}{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Paynter | editor2-first=Raymond A. Jr | year=1964 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=10 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=379 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14486568 }} The genus name combines the Ancient Greek trokhalos meaning "round" or "bowed" with pteron meaning "wing". The specific epithet milnei was chosen to honour the French zoologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards.{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n391/mode/1up 391], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n255/mode/1up 255]}}
Four subspecies are recognised:{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=Laughingthrushes and allies | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/laughingthrushes/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=3 July 2024 }}
- T. m. sharpei Rippon, 1901 – north Myanmar and south China to northwest Thailand and north Indochina
- T. m. vitryi (Delacour, 1932) – south Laos
- T. m. sinianum Stresemann, 1930 – southeast China (except northwest Fujian)
- T. m. milnei David, A, 1874 – northwest Fujian
Description
The red-tailed laughingthrush has an overall length of about {{cvt|26|-|28|cm}} and a weight of about {{cvt|66|-|93|g}}. It is dull ochrous-grey, with a bright rufous-chestnut crown and a blackish face, with whitish ear-coverts. Wings and tail are crimson. The sexes are similar.{{ cite book | last1=Collar | first1=N.J. | last2=Robson | first2=C. | year=2007 | chapter=Family Timaliidae (Babblers) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees | location=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=978-84-96553-42-2 | pages=70-291 [262] | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0012unse/page/262/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }}
Distribution and habitat
This species can be found in China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.[https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id26983/ Biolib] These birds mainly inhabit the understorey of broadleaf evergreen forests,
They are strictly montane, usually living at an elevation of {{convert|1800|-|2500|m}} above sea level.Morten Strange [https://books.google.com/books?id=--8PCwAAQBAJ&dq=Trochalopteron+milnei+length&pg=PA282 Photographic Guide to the Birds of Thailand: Including Southeast Asia & the Philippines]
File: Trochalopteron milnei - Red-tailed Laughingthrush.webm
Behaviour
=Food and feeding=
This species mainly feeds on insects and small arthropods (beetles, centipedes, etc.), but also on berries and fruits (especially of Saurauia species).
=Breeding=
The breeding season lasts from April to June. The nest is made by both sexes and consists of a tidy cup mainly made of grasses and bamboo leaves. It is built up to {{cvt|1|m}} above the ground level. The clutch of 2-3 eggs are incubated for 17–18 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and leave the nest when aged 14–16 days.
References
{{Wikispecies}}
{{Commons}}
{{Reflist}}
External links
- Dollinger P. [https://www.zootier-lexikon.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=6085:rotschwanz-haeherling-trochalopteron-milnei&Itemid=678 Zootier-Lexikon] {{in lang|de}}
- [https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/338602-Trochalopteron-milnei iNaturalist]
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