Little-known Oriental Bird - Courtois's Laughingthrush: 2It is a pity that in his original paper describing Garrulax courtoisi, Ménégaux failed to mention the exact location, or at least the type of habitat, or even the altitude from which the two skins were collected. Nevertheless, considering the difficulties of travel in 1919 when Père Arnous was visiting Wuyuan, the two birds would more likely than not have been obtained at a site not very far from the central town of the county, or at least along, or close to, the old countryside road, though the intrepid Father may had ventured further afield in his botanical quests. La Touche quotes Courtois as saying that the birds 'frequented brushwood in flocks, fairly numerous but wild'. (3)
It is noteworthy that Courtois' Laughingthrushes breed at so low an altitude, especially when compared with the the nominate form, which usually lives well above 1,000 m in India. (10,11,14,15,16) It is interesting to speculate whether the subspecies courtoisi has evolved some form of obligate relationship with human settlements during the breeding season, or whether their current breeding sites are simply a consequence of the fact that the only large, old trees now left occur around villages. Our censuses in Wuyuan in 2000 and 2001 found 80-90 birds in two flocks, and 150-160 individuals in four flocks respectively. Quite possibly, there are more breeding sites in Wuyuan that we have not yet found. Even if this proves to be the case, however, our best estimate would still put the total population at probably fewer than 1,000 individuals, but conceivably up to a maximum of 1,500 although this is considered to be unlikely - if heretofore undiscovered flocks are utilising the same breeding habitats as the four already located. Such a small likely total population size is a matter of concern. The species Garrulax galbanus, when treated as a whole, is globally classified as Near Threatened (NT). (17,18) However, this categorisation seems more likely to be based entirely on the nominate form, galbanus, which occurs in a much larger range than its Chinese conspecifics and at a minimum of 16 separate known locations. (9) Even though the available data on courtoisi are still quite limited, enough is known to draw some tentative conclusions as to its status - given the fact that the known birds are now totally in one local population, with 150-160 individuals and in one small area only. In accordance with the latest version of the IUCN Red List Criteria 2000, (17) the subspecies courtoisi certainly qualifies as Endangered (EN), and quite possibly even Critically Endangered (CR), given its presumed population size and the range it actually seems to occupy. For example, of the four breeding sites of this taxon which have been located, none is larger than 10 ha in total size, which shows how phenomenally circumscribed the breeding territory of this relict subspecies has become. The results of our exhaustive field searches reveal that the first, and for a long time also the only, record of Courtois's Laughingthrush, though nearly a century old, is by no means an incidental one. There has evidently long been a very small, remnant population of the bird tenaciously surviving in Wuyuan - and only Wuyuan. In the last 10 years, the local authorities and government in Wuyuan County have been making constant efforts in conservation, including the delimiting of so-called Mini-Protected Areas (MPAs), with ranges varying from a few hectares to hundreds of hectares or even more. When field studies on courtoisi were initiated, more than 180 MPAs had already been established, which cover a remarkable portion of the territory of Wuyuan and should bode well for the future of the birds. For instance, the first two breeding groups we found were both in MPAs. One MPA, no larger than 5 ha in total, not only supports courtoisi but also has a bird community of fairly high diversity. Other breeding species include: Mandarin Duck Aix galericulata, Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker Dendrocopos canicapillus, Dollarbird Eurystomys orientalis, Asian Barred Owlet Glaucidium cuculoides, Oriental Turtle Dove Streptopelia orientalis, Black Baza Aviceda leuphotes, Chinese Sparrowhawk Accipiter soloensis, Pied Falconet Microhierax melanoleucos, Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach, Grey Treepie Dendrocitta formosae, Black-naped Oriole Oriolus chinensis, Ashy Drongo Dicrurus leucophaeus, Eurasian Blackbird Turdus merula, Oriental Magpie Robin Copsychus saularis, and Red-billed Starling Sturnus sericeus. Some of these are also considered to be threatened bird species. There is still much to be learned, both about and from, this small population. For example, we still know nothing about where they go and what they do during the long non-breeding season. As soon as nestlings fledge all the birds, both adult and young, leave their breeding sites, disappearing into the low hills. And as to what we can learn from this pertinacious laughingthrush, perhaps most importantly it will afford us an excellent opportunity to study the long-term viability, genetic and otherwise, of such an extremely diminutive and tightly circumscribed population. The rediscovery of courtoisi in the wild in Wuyuan also teaches us something of the true significance of Mini-Protected Areas for local/regional conservation efforts. With the support of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) China Program, two more MPAs are being designated and will soon be in operation. Run jointly by the local authority and with the involvement of the local community, these two new MPAs will raise the hope of ensuring the well-being of all four breeding flocks. We cannot conclude without mentioning the uncertain taxonomic position of the bird. We find this ever more confusing, but yet something that must certainly be tackled in the future. Perhaps ethological differences from the nominate form will prove more salient than morphological considerations in determining the most logical taxonomic status of this seemingly unique laughingthrush. Knowing and keeping all that in mind, the subspecies simaoensis will definitely be our next target. For us, these two endemic Chinese taxa remain a mystery, and a challenge. Acknowledgements References
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