Description:

Medium-sized olive and buffy laughingthrush. A complex-patterned, mainly grey and olive laughingthrush without spotting or scaling. Rufous-buff forehead and malar stripe, black mask and centre of throat, rufous greater coverts, black primary coverts and patch on secondaries and white tip to tail.

Distribution:

Uncommon resident in the lower valleys of Diamer district, neighboring Kohistan and Malakhand. Prefers open forest of fir, birch or oak with dense growth and bushes, in winter, open willow groves. Found at 1800-3200m, descends to 1000m in winter.

Behavior:

In pairs during breeding season; otherwise in parties of up to 20 or more birds. Skulking, forages on the ground, in bushes and trees, but often ascends trees. Feeds on insects, fruit and berries. Insects, including moths and caterpillars, small flies, and ants; also spiders.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Variegated Laughingthrush in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Variegated Laughingthrush

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.