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White-throated Rock Thrush sighted for the first time in India
To confirm its identity, the team played a recorded call of the White-throated Rock Thrush. The bird responded subtly by flying slightly closer, although it remained perched high above.
The Journal of South Asian Ornithology has officially confirmed the sighting of a White-throated Rock Thrush (Monticola gularis) for the first time in India. The rare bird was spotted in March 2025 near Phawngpui (Blue Mountain) National Park, one of Mizoram’s two national parks located in the Lawngtlai district.
A team of birdwatchers — Dipu Karuthedathu, Christopher JZ Lawlor, Joe RZ Thanga, and Praveen J — made the discovery near Thaltlang village. The sighting was formally confirmed by ornithological experts and published in the Journal of South Asian Ornithology on June 25, 2025.
Describing the moment of discovery, Christopher JZ Lawlor said, “Dipu Karuthedathu spotted a mid-sized bird in the forest canopy that he couldn’t immediately identify. It had blue upperparts and chestnut underparts, which led us to debate whether it might be a thrush, robin, niltava, or even a flycatcher.”
To confirm its identity, the team played a recorded call of the White-throated Rock Thrush. The bird responded subtly by flying slightly closer, although it remained perched high above.
Native to the temperate forests of northeastern China, southeastern Russia, and North Korea, the White-throated Rock Thrush breeds between May and July. It migrates during the winter to subtropical and tropical lowland forests in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and parts of southern China.
“This is the first confirmed record of the species in India,” said Lawlor, an associate professor at Govt. Kolasib College. “While some local villagers claim they’ve seen this bird before, very few are aware of its ornithological significance. This sighting is the first to be officially documented in India.”
The closest previously known record of the species was from Mount Popa in central Myanmar, observed by Keaveney in 2010 — about 300km southeast of Phawngpui.
The male White-throated Rock Thrush is strikingly beautiful, with a blue crown, orange underparts, and black wings featuring a bright white patch. Although the species has a small white throat marking, it is often subtle and hard to spot. It typically breeds in rocky, forested hills and follows a migratory route along the East Asian Flyway, wintering further south along the region’s coastal and inland forests.
