Grandala

The grandala is the only species in its genus, of the thrush family, 19–23 cm long and 38–52 g. The male's plumage is an intense dark blue with blacker tail and wings, while the female is greyish-brownish with fine white streaks on the underparts, a greyish-blue rump and white tips and undersides to the wing feathers; young birds are like females but lack a bluish tint on the rump and upper tail coverts. It ranges across the north-western and north-eastern Indian subcontinent and north-east to western China, primarily at high to very high altitudes in the Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is a partial altitudinal migrant, breeding in high alpine scrub and meadows at 3,900–5,500 m in summer and descending to 2,000–4,300 m in winter, when it can be found in orchards. It is a social bird, feeding on insects and on small fruit such as Vaccinium berries. SoIB 2023 rates it a Moderate conservation priority, a resident and altitudinal migrant omnivore of alpine and cold desert with a Restricted range of about 13,200 km² and insufficient data on trends (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).