White-Crested Laughing Thrush

A bold, amusing bird which is very entertaining in a large aviary. It may be mixed with other starlings and thrushes, but should not he housed with smaller types or very timid birds. It is also rather noisy.

Description:

Size: 30 cm (12 in)

COCK:

Back: chestnut-brown. Wings and tail: darker brown. Head, crest and chest: white. Face: sports a black mask. Beak: black. legs: gun-metal grey.

HEN:

Similar, making it difficult to pick a true pair, although its crest is smaller than that of the cock.

Diet: (Softbill)

Coarse grade insectile mixture and raw minced beef should be fed two or three times a week. Live food is also necessary. Mixed fruit of all kinds should form about 40%, of the menu, and insectile mixture should be sprinkled over diced fruit.

This specie becomes very hardy after acclimatization and can be kept outside, needing only a dry, frost-proof shelter, free from damp and draughts. It often attempts to roost outside even in cold weather, but should be discouraged from doing so.

White Crested Laughing Trush Breeding:

Few successful breeding results have been recorded, but this should not deter the keen fancier from trying. Try to provide as excluded aviary and plenty of live food for rearing the young.

White-Crested Laughing Thrush Information

• There are about 50 different species of white crested laughing thrushes. The bird has very strong feet but are poor fliers. They fly in a flock of around 100 in number.
• The birds have very soft fluffy plumage with very short wings and legs.
• There are extremely active in nature and have the habit of hopping and prancing around dense forest floors.
• The bird is found around the entire stretch of the great Himalayas including regions like Assam, Myanmar, Southern China, Indochina and such.
• The birds are common in evergreen forests that are characterized by heavy under growth of bushes and weeds. They generally prefer regions that have thick bamboo stands.
• They generally reside in the lower storey of the forests.
• They have a very distinctive call. The call characterizes antiphonal vocalization and distinctive ringing sound.
• To feed itself the bird in groups forage through the littered leaves of the forests and search for insects, lizards, fruit, nectar and seed.
• Though during the breeding season the bird stays in flocks but it has been noticed that they stay as only one pair throughout the breeding season.
• In wild the nests are built in shallow regions of about 6 feet or 1.8 meters above the ground.
• The primary nest building material for the bird is bamboo leaves.
• The breeding season of the bird is from March to August. But in zoological gardens or bird aviaries the bird breeds throughout the year.