Bare-headed Laughingthrush

Open encyclopedia reference

The bare-headed laughingthrush (Melanocichla calva) is a species of bird in the Old World babbler family Timaliidae. It is endemic to highland forests at elevations of 750–1,800 m (2,460–5,910 ft) in the mountain ranges of north-central Borneo, along with some outlying peaks. It is 25–26 cm (9.8–10.2 in) long, with both sexes similar in appearance. The head is brownish to greenish yellow and featherless. The area along the lower mandible has a bluish tinge. The rest of the body is dull blackish-brown tinged with grey. Juveniles have more feathers on the head, extending from the forehead to the crown. Described by the British ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1888, the bare-headed laughingthrush was then treated as a subspecies of the black laughingthrush from 1935 to 2006, when it was restored to full species status. It feeds on insects such as crickets, cicadas, and ants in dense columns of vegetation formed by vines growing around trees.

Wikipedia contributors, Bare-headed laughingthrush; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:03:19.720195+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Melanocichla calva (Sharpe, 1888)

Name authority

(Sharpe, 1888)

Common name

Bare-headed Laughingthrush

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Timaliidae

Genus

Melanocichla

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderPasseriformes
10. familyTimaliidae Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
11. genusMelanocichla Sharpe, 1883
12. speciesMelanocichla calva (Sharpe, 1888)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Melanocichla. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 42 records assigned to Timaliidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1282010 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:QVD9N. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.