Spot-breasted Laughingthrush

The spot-breasted laughingthrush (Garrulax merulinus) is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is found in Yunnan, Northeast India, Laos, Myanmar, north-west Thailand, and northern Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The orange-breasted laughingthrush (S. annamensis) of south-central Vietnam was formerly regarded as a subspecies of this bird but is now often treated as a separate species. (Wikipedia, general species account).

Old World flycatchers typically watch from a perch, taking insects in short aerial sallies or gleaning prey from foliage and the ground. Many Asian species show strong differences between male and female plumage, while migrants may use different habitats seasonally. These are family-level ecological notes; the species account above remains the basis for identification and distribution (general Muscicapidae ecology). Regional observations can refine these broad expectations.