Banasura laughingthrush facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Banasura laughingthrush |
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Montecincla cachinnans jerdoni |
The Banasura laughingthrush (Montecincla jerdoni) is a special type of bird. It belongs to the Leiothrichidae family. You can only find this bird in the shola forests. These forests are in a small part of the Western Ghats in southwestern Karnataka and northern Kerala, India. This bird was once thought to be a subspecies of another bird, the black-chinned laughingthrush. But now, scientists know it's its own unique species!
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Discovering the Banasura Laughingthrush
A zoologist named Edward Blyth first described the Banasura laughingthrush in 1851. He based his description on a bird found at Banasura Hill in modern-day Kerala. This bird was collected by Thomas Jerdon. Blyth first placed this bird in the Garrulax group.
How Scientists Classified This Bird
Over time, scientists changed how they grouped these birds. The Banasura laughingthrush, along with the Palani laughingthrush and the Ashambu laughingthrush, was placed in the group called Montecincla. It is still in this group today.
For a while, the Banasura laughingthrush was thought to be the same species as the Nilgiri laughingthrush. They were both called the black-chinned laughingthrush. But in 2015, scientists looked closely at their bodies and where they lived. They found that these two birds were different species. This happened because they lived in different places and developed separately. Later, genetic tests confirmed that they are indeed separate species.
The Banasura laughingthrush is most closely related to the Nilgiri laughingthrush. Scientists believe they became different species about 330,000 years ago.
What Does the Banasura Laughingthrush Look Like?
The Banasura laughingthrush is a medium-sized songbird. It is about 20 to 23 centimeters (8 to 9 inches) long. It weighs between 36 and 52 grams (about 1.3 to 1.8 ounces).
Adult birds have a black face and throat. They have white stripes above their eyes, called supercilia. Their chest, cheeks, and back are gray. Their belly is a yellowish-brown color. Their back, wings, and tail are olive green. They also have a black beak, red eyes, and brownish legs.
How to Tell Them Apart
You can tell the Banasura laughingthrush apart from the Nilgiri laughingthrush by its gray chest. It also has a black chin, which helps tell it apart from the Palani and Ashambu laughingthrushes. Male and female birds look the same.
Even though it looks very similar to other birds in its group, the Banasura laughingthrush is the only one of its kind found where it lives. This makes it easy to identify!
Where Does It Live?
The Banasura laughingthrush lives in a very small area. It is found only in a few isolated mountain tops, like "sky islands," in the Western Ghats of South India. These areas are between the Brahmagiri Hills in the north and Vavul Mala in Kerala in the south.
Within this small area, you can find groups of these birds. They live at Banasura Hill in Wayanad, Chembra Peak, and Vellarimala. The Banasura laughingthrush mainly lives in shola forests. These forests are found at high elevations, between 1,400 and 2,400 meters (about 4,600 to 7,900 feet) above sea level.
How Does It Live?
The Banasura laughingthrush looks for food in the middle and lower parts of the shola forest trees. It hops among the branches. It mostly eats fruits and insects. These birds tend to stay in one area and do not travel much between different shola forests.
Its Unique Song
Like other Montecincla laughingthrushes, the Banasura laughingthrush is very vocal. Its most common song is a series of 3 to 6 loud, nasal whistles. But its song can change a lot. It has many different songs with 2, 3, 4, or 6 notes.
Sometimes, it's hard to tell its song apart from the Nilgiri laughingthrush's song. However, studies show that the Banasura laughingthrush's song is generally more complex than the songs of other Montecincla laughingthrushes.
Why Is It Endangered?
The Banasura laughingthrush lives in a very small area, less than 57 square kilometers (about 22 square miles). Because of this, there are only about 500 to 2,500 adult birds left. Their habitat is also broken up into many small pieces. This makes them even more at risk from losing their homes or if their environment gets damaged.
Because of its small population and limited range, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has listed this species as Endangered.
To help protect this bird, the Carmel Hump Mountains Important Bird Area was created. This area protects the important habitat where the Banasura laughingthrush lives.
