Laughingthrushes and allies | Leiothrichidae

Lachvogels | Charlatanes

The family does not belong here by nature: these birds were imported as cage birds for their song, and released or escaped individuals have settled on the islands in the Pacific, along forest edges, in gullies and in run-wild plantings. They are sturdily built birds with short rounded wings and strong legs, spending most of their time in the lowest layer of dense forest: leaf litter is turned over with bill and feet, and open ground is crossed on foot rather than on the wing. They live in parties that shift noisily through the undergrowth and answer one another in clear whistling and cackling series, two birds fitting their phrases together so tightly that it sounds like a single song. The nest is a cup low in dense cover, and in part of the family group members other than the pair help to feed and guard the young.