Identification:
Distinguishing Features:
Adult birds have a grayish-brown plumage. They have white eye rings. The crown features a short, black crest; the nape transitions to ash-gray; the shoulders, back, flanks, and upper tail coverts are yellowish-brown. Wings and tail display fine black bars interspersed with yellowish-brown bars. The tips of the underside tail feathers are white. The throat and the sides of the chin have black streaks. The remaining underside of the body and the under-tail coverts are rufous-brown. Small wing coverts are yellowish-brown, median wing coverts are dark brown; large wing coverts are pale orange-yellow. The beak is black horn-colored. The legs are horn-gray.
Biology and Ecology:
Typically encountered singly or in pairs. Habitats include evergreen broadleaf forests, secondary forests, forest edges, thickets, or tall grasslands; distribution altitude from 1100 – 2400m. No biological data is currently available.
Distribution:
In Vietnam: Ngoc Linh Nature Reserve (Kontum and Quang Nam provinces)
Worldwide: Eastern Southern Laos, Cambodia
Value:
A species of scientific value. Endemic to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
Conservation Status:
A species new to science, discovered in Ngoc Linh in 1996, relatively common within its distribution range in Vietnam.
Classification:
VU B1 + 2a,b,c,d,e C1
Conservation Measures:
Currently protected in two nature reserves: Ngoc Linh (Kontum) and Ngoc Linh (Quang Nam).