Masked Laughingthrush

Masked Laughingthrush

Garrulax perspicillatus

Daily sighting probability ~50% · Likely
at Ningbo

In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%

50 Verified sightings at Ningbo
July Best month

About the Masked Laughingthrush

The masked laughingthrush (Pterorhinus perspicillatus) is a species of laughingthrush found in China, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Macau. It is often seen in small noisy flocks of seven. Its Chinese name qī zǐ-mèi (Chinese: 七姊妹 ) means 'seven brothers and sisters'.

The masked laughingthrush was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the thrushes in the genus Turdus and coined the binomial name Turdus perspicillatus. The specific epithet perspicillatus is Modern Latin meaning "spectacled". Gmelin based his description on "Le Merle de la Chine" that had been described in 1775 by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. A hand-coloured engraving by François-Nicolas Martinet was published to accompany Buffon's text. The type locality is now restricted to Xiamen (formerly Amoy) in the province of Fujian.

The masked laughingthrush was formerly placed in the genus Garrulax but following the publication of a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study of the laughingthrushes in 2018, it was moved to the... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Recording0:12

Hong Kong SAR China · 2025

Stephen Matthews · iNaturalist · CC0

Recording0:09

Hong Kong SAR China · 2019

© johnallcock · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0

Recording0:06

Hong Kong SAR China · 2026

© Simon Williams · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Nanjing 🇨🇳 China
~70%
2 Wuhan 🇨🇳 China
~70%
3 Hefei 🇨🇳 China
~70%
4 Tuen Mun 🇨🇳 China
~60%
5 Jinhua 🇨🇳 China
~60%
6 Xiamen City 🇨🇳 China
~50%
7 Ningbo 🇨🇳 China
~50%
8 Changsha 🇨🇳 China
~50%
9 Hong Kong 🇨🇳 China
~40%
10 Nanchang 🇨🇳 China
~40%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Masked Laughingthrush in Ningbo?

Likely

About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Masked Laughingthrush sighting in Ningbo on a given day, based on 50 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 15th most-seen of the 61 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Masked Laughingthrush in Ningbo?

July

In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Masked Laughingthrush in Ningbo on a given day, against about 20% in March, the lowest month.

Is Ningbo the best place to see a Masked Laughingthrush?

7th of 22

Of the 22 cities where we can rate Masked Laughingthrush sightings, Ningbo ranks 7th at about 50%. The best odds are in Nanjing (China, about 70%), Wuhan (China, about 70%) and Hefei (China, about 70%).

Which relatives of the Masked Laughingthrush live in Ningbo?

Same order: Passeriformes

The closest relatives of the Masked Laughingthrush that you can see in Ningbo (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Chinese Blackbird (about 80%), Light-vented Bulbul (about 80%) and Long-tailed Shrike (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Masked Laughingthrush sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Masked Laughingthrush is recorded against all the birds logged in Ningbo (50 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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