Minla strigula
Silhouette: Jiekun He · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The bar-throated minla or chestnut-tailed minla (Actinodura strigula), or even bar-throated siva, is a species of bird in the laughingthrush and babbler family Leiothrichidae. Traditionally, it has been placed in the genus Minla but is now placed in Actinodura.
The species is found in montane forest from India to Malaysia. Eight subspecies have been described, of which six are widely accepted. The bar-throated minla occupies a range of montane forest habitats from 1,800–3,750 m (5,910–12,300 ft). The species is mainly resident but may move to lower altitudes during harsh winters, coming as low as 1,300 m (4,300 ft). Among the forest types it may occur in are evergreen broadleaf forest, mixed broadleaf and evergreen forest, pine forest, pine or oak and rhododendron forest, rhododendron or bamboo stands.
The diet of the bar-throated minla varies by season; during the summer months it is almost exclusively insectivorous, taking beetles, caterpillars and other insects. In the winter months it will also take berries, seeds, and nectar. It will join flocks of other babblers and yuhinas in the non-breeding season, and feeds from the canopy down to near the forest floor. Two to four eggs are laid in a cup of grass, bamboo leaves, lichen and birch bark. Wikipedia →
Recording0:21
Nepal · 2025
© Natalya Andreyenkova · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 2 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 3 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Chestnut-tailed Minla sighting in Royal Manas National Park on a given day, based on 39 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 219th most-seen of the 388 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and October–November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Chestnut-tailed Minla in Royal Manas National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–July and December–February, the lowest months. Those are among Royal Manas National Park's driest months, with about 85 mm of rain a month against 930 mm in July. August and September have too few records to rate.
Between 4 and 7 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Chestnut-tailed Minla sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Chestnut-tailed Minla sightings, Royal Manas National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Doi Inthanon National Park (Thailand, about 50%) and Langtang National Park (Nepal, about 20%).
Same genus: Minla
The closest relatives of the Chestnut-tailed Minla that you can see in Royal Manas National Park (genus Minla) are Blue-winged Minla (about 20%) and Red-tailed Minla (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Chestnut-tailed Minla is recorded against all the birds logged in Royal Manas National Park (39 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
