Garrulax monileger

Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

The eastern slopes of the Tenasserim Mountain Range is home to the Kaeng Krachan National Park and where the Pranburi & Phetchaburi Rivers originate. Kaeng Krachan National Park is the largest national park of Thailand on the border with Burma, contiguous with the Tanintharyi Nature Reserve. The park was declared a reserve in 1964 and on 12 June 1981 it became the 28th national park of Thailand. Originally covering an area of 2,478 km², it was enlarged in December 1984 to include the boundary area between Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan Provinces, an additional 300,000 rai. The park has been included in the list of ASEAN Heritage Parks. Since 2011, Thailand has proposed that Unesco designate Kaeng Krachan National Park a world heritage site.

Here we spot the beautiful Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush (Garrulax monileger) - a species in the family Leiothrichidae.

The Lesser Necklaced is a mid-sized laughingthrush, usually seen foraging on the ground and in shrubbery of hilly forests. It is brown overall, with rusty highlights on the neck and flanks, and with prominent black markings on the white breast and face. It is very similar to the slightly larger Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, with which it often associates in mixed flocks; Lesser differs in being duller rusty overall, having a complete (rather than partial) breast band, and having minimal streaking on the cheeks. It demonstrates a classic laughingthrush repertoire, with a beautiful fluty, meldic song and hooting calls.

Kaeng Krachan National Park is located in Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan Provinces, about 60 km from Phetchaburi and 75 km from Hua Hin. It is bounded by the Tanintharyi Nature Reserve along Myanmar's border to the west and part of the Western Forest Complex that covers 18,730 km² across 19 protected sites between Myanmar and Thailand. There are two main rivers in the park; Phetchaburi and Pran Buri Rivers. Both rivers originate from the Tanaosri Mountain Range. In the north, Phetchaburi River flows into Kaeng Krachan Dam and flows further east all the way out to the Gulf of Thailand. Pran Buri River flows south to Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, into Pran Buri Reservoir and out to the Gulf of Thailand.

The highest elevation in the park is a peak along the Burmese border at around 1,500 meters. The park is popular for wildlife which doesn’t necessarily mean it is easy. The possibilities depend on the seasons and seasonal conditions for various types of animals. Mammals like leopards, clouded leopards, bears, stump-tailed macaques, sambhar, barking deer, elephants, dholes, golden jackal, gaur, serows, crab-eating mongoose and tapirs can be spotted in the park. There also used to be a significant tiger population in the park up until a decade ago, but only a few are left now.

Langurs, stump-tailed macaques, white-handed gibbons, sambhar, mouse deer, porcupines, monitor lizards, civets and black giant squirrel are frequently seen. White-handed gibbons can be seen or heard nearly every day, often seen at the edge of the campsites.

Read about the wildlife of Kaeng Krachan National Park. 

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Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush

Found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam the Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.

It is about 24–31·5 cm long and weighs between 56–135 g. It is a large laughingthrush, overall brown, tan and white, with a narrow blackish necklace from its ear-coverts and across the breast and it has pale eyes. The nominate race has warm mid-brown crown and upperparts, with vague rufescent collar on nape and upper mantle. The wing fringes and central tail feathers are warm mid-brown, outer primaries are fringed greyer, outer tail feathers are blackish-brown distally with broad white tips; lores are buffish to above eye, narrow white supercilium behind eye to above rear ear-coverts, plush area around eye is black, ear-coverts are blackish distally but mixed with silvery white basally; lower submoustachial area is blackish but upper part is buffy white, chin and upper throat are buffy white, shading through buff to rufescent tan adjacent to variable-width chocolate-black necklace extending from lower rear ear-coverts across breast; rest of underparts are whitish or buffy white, flanks with dull rufous wash, undertail-coverts are mixed white and pale warm buff; iris is orange-yellow to yellowish-brown; bill is black or blackish-grey, often basal half of lower mandible is greyer; legs are pale fleshy or yellowish-brown to pale lead. Both the sexes are similar. The juvenile has upperparts more rufescent, gorget is weaker, mid-belly is buffier, outer webs of primaries are buffier, white on tail tips are reduced. The race badius is deeper-toned and darker-toned above than nominate, nuchal collar and flanks are darker rufous; race mouhoti is much whiter on upper flanks and belly, nuchal collar is somewhat less broad and slightly more chestnut.

Ten subspecies are recognised.

• Garrulax monileger monileger - Distributed in WC Nepal E to Bhutan, NE Indian states (except E Arunachal Pradesh and adjacent NE Assam), E Bangladesh, W and C Myanmar and S China (W Yunnan).

• Garrulax monileger badius - Distributed in NE India (E and SE Arunachal Pradesh and Patkai Range, in E Assam) and extreme N Myanmar.

• Garrulax monileger Stuart - Distributed in SE Myanmar (including extreme N Tenasserim) and NW Thailand.

• Garrulax monileger fuscatus - Distributed in NC and C Tenasserim (S Myanmar) and adjacent W Thailand.

• Garrulax monileger mouhoti - Distributed in SE Thailand, Cambodia, extreme S Laos, and Vietnam (N Annam S to S Annam and N Cochinchina (commonly used to refer to the region south of the Gianh River)).

• Garrulax monileger pasquieri - Distributed in C and S Laos and adjacent Vietnam (C Annam).

• Garrulax monileger schauenseei - Distributed in extreme E Myanmar, N Thailand, N Laos and S China (S Yunnan).

• Garrulax monileger tonkinensis - Distributed in N Vietnam (Tonkin, N Annam) and SE China (SE Yunnan, Guangxi).

• Garrulax monileger melli - Distributed in SE China (S Hunan, S Jiangxi, S Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong).

• Garrulax monileger schmackeri - Distributed in Hainan.

It is found in broadleaf evergreen and deciduous forest, secondary forest, scrub, hedgerows in more open areas. It is found from sea-level to 1675 m.

The Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush eats insects and their larvae, like millers, ants, snails and small lizards and also berries, small fruits, seeds and green vegetable matter. These are highly gregarious birds, keeping in monospecific flocks outside breeding season, often in company with other laughingthrushes, including white-crested laughingthrush, greater necklaced laughingthrush and black-throated laughingthrush, where ranges overlap; also associates with Greater Racquet-tailed Drongo. It forages mostly on the ground, hacking earth and tossing aside leaves, but moves through forest up to middle storey.

They breed in Mar–Aug and are multi-brooded. The nest is a broad, often shallow cup made of dry bamboo or other leaves, twigs, roots, creeper stems and tendrils, lined, sometimes thickly, with rootlets, black grass roots, leaf skeletons and fine twigs, placed above ground in bamboo or low tree. They lay a clutch 3–5 eggs. Brood parasitism is done by the Chestnut-winged Cuckoo and Jacobin Cuckoo.

The Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush is not globally threatened. It is local and uncommon in Central Nepal, becoming more frequent farther Easy. They have been frequently recorded in the foothills, and higher in the Central & Eastern valleys, in Bhutan, and are present in Thrumshingla National Park. They are frequent in India below 1000 m, and common in Nameri National Park (Assam); present elsewhere in North East India in (at least) Buxa Tiger Reserve, in West Bengal, Namdapha and Mouling National Parks, in Arunachal Pradesh, Balphakram National Park, in Meghalaya, Barail Reserve Forest and Kaziranga National Park (common in latter), in Assam, and Ngengpui Wildlife Sanctuary, in Mizoram. In China, they are moderately common in the higher wooded parts of Guangdong and Fujian, and recently recorded in Shiwandashan National Nature Reserve, in Guangxi, but not common there. They are also generally common in their South East Asian range. Present in Khao Yai National Park, in Thailand. Widespread, if uncommon, in Cambodia, at least before 1970. Present but generally uncommon in Xe Pian National Biodiversity Conservation Area (NBCA), Phou Xang He NBCA and Dong Hua Sao NBCA, in Laos, and present (abundance uncertain) in Xe Bang Nouan NBCA and Nakai-Nam Theun NBCA. In Vietnam, present in Cuc Phuong, Bach Ma and Nam Bai Cat Tien National Parks and Na Hang Nature Reserve, and in eleven protected areas in the Annamese lowlands.

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