Swinhoe's Laughingthrush, Metal Print

Swinhoe’s Laughingthrush (Pterorhinus monachus) is so closely related to the widely distributed Black-throated Laughingthrush (P. chinensis) that it is sometimes considered to be a race of the more widely found species. But Swinhoe’s has a small range, being found only on Hainan Island, a large island , about 32,99 square kilometers (12,700 square miles) in size, and a province of the People’s Republic of China, found off the southern coast. These laughingthrushes eat invertebrates (and, I’d imagine, the odd tiny snake or lizard), and various seeds, berries and perhaps other vegetation. They have cup shaped-nests made of vegetation, where they lay glossy blue eggs that take about two weeks to hatch. Babies are fast-growing, eating their weight in food – mostly insects – per day and leaving the nest in approximately two weeks after hatching. The painting is 12” by 16” inches, in oils on a Russian birch panel.