Identification
- Plumage: Gray overall.
- Underparts: Pale white with faint black streaks on the flanks and sides.
- Facial Features: Black around the eyes, cheeks, and ears. The crown and nape are gray with interspersed white streaks; the flanks and upper tail coverts are reddish-brown with black-brown streaks; the tail is gray with a white tip. Wings are gray mixed with black and white.
Biology and Ecology
- Breeding Season: April – May.
- Social Behavior: Usually found singly or in pairs; sometimes forages in mixed flocks with other species.
- Foraging: Forages in dense tree canopies, exhibiting slow movement.
- Habitat: Evergreen broadleaf forests.
- Altitude: Found at elevations ranging from 900 to 1450 meters.
Distribution
- Within Vietnam: Lâm Đồng (Lang Bian Mountain, Da Lat), Chu Yang Sin Nature Reserve (Dak Lak).
- Global: Endemic to Vietnam.
Value
- Aesthetic and Scientific: Suitable for display in bird gardens, providing opportunities for students and researchers to study the species’ ecological behaviors.
Conservation Status
- Status: Endemic to Vietnam, resident in the Da Lat highlands; uncommon within its distribution range. Rediscovered on January 29, 1994, in the Chu Yang Sin forest (Dak Lak), 56 years after its initial discovery in Vietnam.
Assessment
- EN B1+2a,b,c,d,e. (Critically Endangered).
Conservation Measures
- Included in the Vietnamese Red Data Book since 1992 (Category E – Endangered) and the Asian Red Data Book of Birds (2001), classified as EN (Endangered). Currently protected within the Chu Yang Sin Nature Reserve and forest patches around Da Lat City resorts.