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Bare-headed Laughingthrush

This is a weird bird. I read somewhere but I can't remember where that it's malay name is Burung Pontianak and I can see why - it does look devilish. The other weird thing about this bird is that like humans, the young has full feathers on its head but sheds it bald when it reaches maturity. Must be the stress of mountain living.

Chin Hock and I were just outside the Kinabalu Mountain Lodge and I thought I'd just try a short playback to call this endemic bird out from the forest and closer to us. We weren't disappointed as a group appeared shortly. The shots are not good and so I should try to video it again - soon.

The bare-headed is also known as the bald-headed and is less common than the Sunda and Chestnut-hooded; both found around the Kinabalu Mt Lodge. It is also more confined in its range to the montane forests of Kinabalu to Mulu and Pulong Tau.