Variegated laughingthrush

The Variegated Laughingthrush is a medium-sized laughingthrush typically 24-16 centimeters in length and weights 57-79 grams. Both subspecies have a black stripe down the center of the throat and are overall olive and buffy in appearance. The large tail has a gray subterminal band with a white tip. The color of the outer rectrices vary based on the subspecies. ''Trochalopteron variegatum variegatum'' has distinctive yellow primary and secondary feathers with cinnamon-tipped greater coverts and black primary coverts. ''Trochalopteron variegatum variegatum'' has yellow outer rectrices. The area around the beak is black up until the eye, which is broken with a white eye ring. Buff area at the base of the mandible fades to whitish. The ''variegatum'' subspecies has buff forehead with a brownish gray crown.

''Trochalopteron variegatum simile'' is similar to ''Trochalopteron variegatum variegatum'' except has gray primary and secondary feathers along with gray outer rectrices. The area around the lower mandible is whiter in this subspecies and the buff on the forehead is more dull.[1]

• BirdLife International 2004. Garrulax variegatus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 25 July 2007.