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Kerala laughingthrush (Palani laughingthrush)
A skulking brown laughingthrush with a bold white eyebrow, endemic to the high ranges south of the Palghat Gap. Its counterpart north of the gap, the Nilgiri laughingthrush, is a different species.
How to recognise it
Heard constantly and seen briefly: a loud rollicking chorus from thick shola undergrowth, then a bird hopping across a gap and gone. Shola edges above about 1,100 m.
Protection
Taxonomy note: moved to the genus Montecincla in 2017; eBird and Clements use the English name Palani laughingthrush for the same bird
Where to see it
Munnar
The Palghat Gap, a 30 km break in the Western Ghats, splits many species in two: one form north of it, a different one south. This bird and the Nilgiri laughingthrush are a textbook pair, separated by that gap. Around Munnar the laughingthrush is this one; the Nilgiri species does not occur here.
Eravikulam National Park (often) · Pampadum Shola National Park (Vattavada road) (often) · Meesapulimala (in season)