Chinese Hwamei

Overview

The Chinese hwamei, also known as the melodious laughingthrush, is a passerine bird of eastern Asia belonging to the laughingthrush family. Its Chinese name, huà méi, meaning 'painted eyebrow', refers to the distinctive markings around its eyes.

Identification

• Size 21 to 25 cm long with broad, rounded wings and a fan-shaped tail.
• Plumage is mostly reddish-brown with dark streaks on the crown, back and throat.
• Features a white ring around the eye that extends backwards as a white stripe, with yellowish bill and feet.
• Song is a loud, clear, and varied whistling with regular repetition and imitations of other birds; call is a rasping whistle or rattle.

Habitat

Inhabits scrubland, open woodland, secondary forest, parks, and gardens up to 1800 metres above sea level. The nominate subspecies is found across south-eastern and central China and in northern and central Vietnam and Laos, while the race G. c. owstoni is restricted to Hainan Island. It has also been introduced to Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, and Hawaii.

Diet

Typically feeds on the ground among leaf litter, foraging for insects and fruit. It is a skulking bird which is often very difficult to see.

Did you know?

The species is a popular cagebird because of its attractive song. The specific epithet canorus is Latin for 'melodious', derived from the word canere, meaning 'to sing'.