Trochalopteron fairbanki
| Palani laughingthrush | |
|---|---|
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| M. fairbanki (Meghamalai) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Leiothrichidae |
| Genus: | Montecincla |
| Species: | M. fairbanki |
| Binomial name | |
|
Montecincla fairbanki (Blanford, 1869) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Garrulax jerdoni fairbanki |
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| Measurements | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominate | |||
| Length | 175–185 mm (6.9–7.3 in) | ||
| Culmen | 21–23 mm (0.8–0.9 in) | ||
| Wing |  |
83–91 mm (3.3–3.6 in) | |
 |
81–86 mm (3.2–3.4 in) | ||
| Tail | |
86–97 mm (3.4–3.8 in) | |
|
86–92 mm (3.4–3.6 in) | ||
| Tarsus | 33–35 mm (1.3–1.4 in) | ||
| meridionale | |||
| Length | 173–190 mm (6.8–7.5 in) | ||
| Culmen | 21–22 mm (0.8–0.9 in) | ||
| Wing | |
85–88 mm (3.3–3.5 in) | |
|
84–85 mm (3.3–3.3 in) | ||
| Tail | 95–96 mm (3.7–3.8 in) | ||
| Tarsus | 35–36 mm (1.4–1.4 in) | ||
Garrulax jerdoni fairbanki
Strophocincla fairbanki
Trochalopteron fairbanki
The Palani laughingthrush (Montecincla fairbanki) is a species of laughingthrush endemic to the hills of the Western Ghats south of the Palghat Gap in Southern India. Found in the high montane forests, this grey bibbed, rufous bellied bird with a prominent dark eyestripe and broad white brow was grouped along with the grey-breasted subspecies of the black-chinned laughingthrush and known as the grey-breasted laughingthrush. This species is found in the Palni Hills while another closely related form, the Ashambu laughingthrush (Montecincla meridionale) with a shorter white brow is found in the high hills south of the Achankovil Gap and was treated as a subspecies. The two forms were together treated under the name of Kerala laughingthrush.
This species has a dark grey-brown crown and narrow dark grey eyestripe with a broad white supercilium above it. This supercilium extends behind the eye in this species but stops above the eye in the closely related meridionale. The throat is distinctly grey unlike in the black-chinned laughingthrush found north of the Palghat Gap and continues into the upper breast. The grey of the upper breast is faintly streaked in brown. The lower breast and belly is rusty brown and the upper parts are olive brown. The bill is browner and not as dark grey as in the black-chinned. The Ashambu laughingthrush (M. meridionale) which was earlier treated as a subspecies has greyer upper plumage, paler crown and the centre of the belly is white with chestnut brown on the flanks and vent. The iris is dark red or red-brown. The sexes are indistinguishable in the field.
This species was described from the Kodaikanal region on the basis of a specimen obtained by Rev. Samuel Bacon Fairbank and came to be called the Pulney laughing-thrush. The lack of the black chin of jerdoni was noted even when this species was first described but it was made into a subspecies under jerdoni in the second edition of The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma in 1922 by Stuart Baker. In 1880 Blanford described meridionale based on a specimen obtained by F. W. Bourdillon. The close relationship of meridionale and fairbanki was noticed by William Ruxton Davison in 1883. The current regrouping of the forms, considering the Palghat Gap as a biogeographic barrier and giving importance to the chin colour, was introduced in 2005 by Pamela C. Rasmussen and Anderton. A study published in 2017 found that the species was best placed in a new genus Montecincla and that based on the divergence, meridionale is best treated as a full species.
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Wikipedia