Ashy Headed Laughing Thrush

The ashy-headed laughingthrush is a rangy bird, 23 centimetre (9 in) in length with a long floppy tail. It is rufous brown above and deep buff below, with a grey head and white throat. Like other babblers, these are noisy birds, and the characteristic laughing calls are often the best indication that they are present, since they are often difficult to see in their preferred habitat.

The ashy-headed laughingthrush is a resident breeding bird endemic to Sri Lanka. Its habitat is rainforest, and it is seldom seen away from deep jungle or dense bamboo thickets in the wet zone. This species, like most babblers, is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight.Although its habitat is under threat, this laughingthrush occurs in all the forests of the wet zone, and is quite common at prime sites like Kitulgala and Sinharaja. It builds its nest in a bush, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is three or four eggs.