Indian Blue Robin

The Indian blue robin is a small chat about 15cm long. The adult male is blue above and rufous below, with a bright white eyebrow above a black mask that continues down the neck, and a whitish lower belly and undertail. The female is olive-brown above and buff below with a light eye-ring and a rufous rump, and young birds are dark brown with buff spots. It was formerly treated as a thrush and moved from Luscinia to Larvivora after a 2010 study (Wikipedia, general species account).

It skulks in forest undergrowth, hopping on the ground and constantly flicking and fanning its tail, and feeds mainly on insects taken from the ground. It breeds from May to July, building a large cup of vegetation on the ground between tree roots or in a hollow, lined with roots and hair, and usually lays four light blue eggs, which only the female incubates. It is migratory, breeding along the Himalayas (Wikipedia, general species account).