Ashambu Laughingthrush

The Ashambu, or Travancore, laughingthrush is found in the Western Ghats in southern Kerala and southern Tamil Nadu. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the grey-breasted laughingthrush and is closely related to the Palani laughingthrush, from which it can be told by its very short white brow that stops before the eye (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is found in the high hills and is part of a complex of several species thought to have speciated by being isolated on the cool tops of the higher hills of southern India as the climate warmed. Earlier included in other genera, they were placed in a newly established genus in 2017. SoIB 2023 treats it as a Western Ghats endemic and rates it a High conservation priority, a resident forest bird with a Very Restricted range of about 3,260 km² (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).