The species was once placed in
the large Old World babbler family Timaliidae, but that family has recently been
split with this species being placed with the laughingthrushes in the new family Leiothrichidae.
The
species is sometimes placed in its own genus Mesia,
or in the genus Leiothrix with the red-billed leiothrix.
There are seven described subspecies, with considerable variation in plumage between
them. Further research is needed to establish if this represents a single
species or not.
The diet of the
silver-eared mesia is dominated by insects and their larvae, as well as fruit
and to a lesser extent seeds.
The species is generally
resident although it has been reported as a winter migrant to Nameri National Park in Assam, India,
which implies that the species may be an altitudinal migrant . The species has been introduced to Hong Kong from captive stock derived from caged birds.
[info:wikipedia]
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