Green cochoa

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Green cochoa
Green Cochoa Khonoma Nagaland India 24.12.2016.jpg
Female of the species from Khonoma Nature Conservation and Tragopan Sanctuary, Nagaland, India
Cochoa viridis 2.jpg
A male
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Genus: Cochoa
Species:
C. viridis
Binomial name
Cochoa viridis
Hodgson, 1836

The green cochoa (Cochoa viridis) is a bird species that was variously placed with the thrushes of family Turdidae or the related Muscicapidae (Old World flycatchers). It is considered closer to the former. [2]

Contents

Description

Lithograph by Gould, female above GreenCochoaGould.jpg
Lithograph by Gould, female above

This Himalayan thrush is moss green. The male has a blue crown, blue wings and tail with a broad black band on the tail. The female has a more greenish body with some rusty spots on the wing coverts. The secondaries and tertiaries have the base of the outer webs yellowish brown with very narrow blue edging, unlike in the male. In some plumages there is a white collar on the sides of the neck. [3] [4] This form was once described as a new species Cochoa rothschildi. [5] First year birds have dark shaft streaks on the body feathers. [6]

A female green cochoa; note the characteristic rufous tinge on the wing panels Cochoa viridis.jpg
A female green cochoa; note the characteristic rufous tinge on the wing panels

Distribution and habitat

The green cochoa is found in Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, and possibly Bhutan. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. They make seasonal movements that are not well understood. Their distribution in winter in India is unclear as the species is found only in summer. An old record from Uttaranchal (Nainital) is the westernmost record, and no recent records exist from Nepal. Most records are east of northwest Bengal. [3]

Behaviour and ecology

Egg CochoaViridisEgg.jpg
Egg

The green cochoa is usually seen in pairs or small groups sitting in tall trees. They usually feed close to the ground, on mollusks, insects and berries. They sometimes launch aerial sallies to capture insects. [6] This species breeds in summer, and the nest is much like that of the purple cochoa, but is usually placed close to water. Both parents take turns incubating. The song is a thin and clear feeeee that dies away. Calls include a short high-pitched pok and harsh notes. [3] [6]

The glossy eggs are ellipsoidal and densely speckled. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thrush (bird)</span> Family of birds

The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flycatchers. Thrushes are small to medium-sized ground living birds that feed on insects, other invertebrates and fruit. Some unrelated species around the world have been named after thrushes due to their similarity to birds in this family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old World flycatcher</span> Family of birds

The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World, with the exception of several vagrants and two species, bluethroat and northern wheatear, found also in North America. These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing. The family is relatively large and includes 351 species which are divided into 54 genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue rock thrush</span> Species of bird

The blue rock thrush is a species of chat. This thrush-like Old World flycatcher was formerly placed in the family Turdidae. It breeds in southern Europe, northwest Africa, and from Central Asia to northern China and Malaysia. The blue rock thrush is the official national bird of Malta and was shown on the Lm 1 coins that were part of the country's former currency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tickell's blue flycatcher</span> Species of bird

Tickell's blue flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family. This is an insectivorous species which breeds in tropical Asia, from the Indian Subcontinent eastwards to Bangladesh and western Myanmar. The Indochinese blue flycatcher was formerly considered conspecific. They are blue on the upperparts and the throat and breast are rufous. They are found in dense scrub to forest habitats. The name commemorates the wife of the British ornithologist Samuel Tickell who collected in India and Burma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-bellied blue flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The white-bellied blue flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of southwest India. Males are dark blue with a lighter shade of blue on the brow and have a greyish white belly. Females have a rufous breast, a white face and olive grey above.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey-headed canary-flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The grey-headed canary-flycatcher, sometimes known as the grey-headed flycatcher, is a species of small flycatcher-like bird found in tropical Asia. It has a square crest, a grey hood and yellow underparts. They are found mainly in forested habitats where they often join other birds in mixed-species foraging flocks. Pairs are often seen as they forage for insects by making flycatcher-like sallies and calling aloud. Several subspecies are recognized within their wide distribution range. In the past the genus Culicicapa was considered to be an Old World flycatcher but studies have found them to belong to a new family designated as the Stenostiridae or fairy flycatchers that include the African genera Stenostira and Elminia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian blue robin</span> Species of bird

The Indian blue robin is a small bird found in the Indian Subcontinent. Formerly considered a thrush, it is now considered one of the Old World flycatchers in the family Muscicapidae. It was earlier also called the Indian blue chat. It is migratory, breeding in the forests along the Himalayas of Nepal, India, Myanmar and Bangladesh. They winter in the hill forests of the Western Ghats of India and in Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nilgiri flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The Nilgiri flycatcher is an Old World flycatcher with a very restricted range in the hills of southern India. It was formerly referred to as the Nilgiri verditer flycatcher because of its similarity to the verditer flycatcher, a winter migrant to the Nilgiris, which, however, has distinct dark lores and a lighter shade of blue. There are two small white patches at the base of the tail. It is found mainly in the higher altitude shola forests of the Western Ghats and the Nilgiris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown rock chat</span> Species of bird (Oenanthe fusca)

The brown rock chat or Indian chat is a bird species of the family Muscicapidae. It is found mainly in northern and central India. It is often found on old buildings and rocky areas. It resembles a female Indian robin but lacks the reddish vent and differs in posture and behaviour apart from being larger. In flight it bears some resemblance to thrushes and redstarts. It feeds on insects, captured mainly on the ground. It was formerly placed as the sole species in the genus Cercomela but is now included with the wheatears in the genus Oenanthe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nilgiri blue robin</span> Species of bird

The Nilgiri blue robin, also known as Nilgiri shortwing, white-bellied shortwing, Nilgiri sholakili or rufous-bellied shortwing is a species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae endemic to the Shola forests of the higher hills of southern India, mainly north of the Palghat Gap. This small bird is found on the forest floor and undergrowth of dense forest patches sheltered in the valleys of montane grassland, a restricted and threatened habitat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purple cochoa</span> Species of bird

The purple cochoa is a brightly coloured bird found in the temperate forests of Asia. It is a quiet and elusive bird species that has been considered to be related to the thrushes of family Turdidae or the related Muscicapidae. They are found in dark forested areas and is found in the canopy, where it often sits motionless.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slaty-backed flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The slaty-backed flycatcher is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayanad laughingthrush</span> Species of bird

The Wayanad laughingthrush is a species of laughingthrush in the family Leiothrichidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats south of Goa in India. These laughingthrushes move in groups in dense forests, producing loud calls but tend to be hard to spot in the undergrowth. They have brown upperparts, a white throat, a broad black mask through the eye and a heavy bill with pale yellow on the lower mandible. Despite the name, derived from the Wayanad region, this species has a wider range than the four other south Indian species of laughingthrush that are restricted to the higher elevation hills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Himalayan rubythroat</span> Species of bird

The Himalayan rubythroat is a species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is closely related to the Siberian rubythroat which however lacks the distinctive white tail-tips and white tail bases. It was also previously considered conspecific with the Chinese rubythroat, together called the white-tailed rubythroat. It is found along the Himalayan ranges from Afghanistan to Myanmar. Three subspecies are recognized across its wide range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pygmy flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The pygmy flycatcher, also known as the pygmy blue-flycatcher, is a bird species of the family Muscicapidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue whistling thrush</span> Species of bird

The blue whistling thrush is a bird in the Old World flycatchers family Muscicapidae that is found in the mountains of Central Asia, South Asia, China and Southeast Asia. It is known for its loud human-like whistling song at dawn and dusk. The widely distributed populations show variations in size and plumage with several of them considered as subspecies. Like others in the genus, they feed on the ground, often along streams and in damp places foraging for snails, crabs, fruits and insects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taiwan whistling thrush</span> Species of bird

The Taiwan whistling thrush, also known as the Formosan whistling thrush, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to Taiwan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luzon water redstart</span> Species of bird

The Luzon water redstart, also known as the Luzon redstart, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Philippines found primarily on Luzon with no records in Mindoro since 1965. Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, and rivers. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-bellied blue robin</span> Species of bird

The white-bellied blue robin or white-bellied sholakili, is a bird of the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Shola forests of the higher hills of southern India. The Nilgiri blue robin and this species were once considered separate species, later lumped as sub-species of a single species (major) and elevated again to full species in 2005 by Pamela C. Rasmussen. The species was earlier thought to be related to the shortwings and placed in the genus Brachypteryx and later moved to Myiomela since species in the genus Brachypteryx shows marked sexual dimorphism. In 2017, a study found that this is a sister group of the flycatchers in the genera Niltava, Cyornis and Eumyias among others. It was then placed in newly erected genus Sholicola. This small bird is found on the forest floor and undergrowth of dense forest patches sheltered in the valleys of montane grassland, a restricted and threatened habitat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicobar jungle flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The Nicobar jungle flycatcher is a species of bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Nicobar Islands, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It was at one time considered a subspecies of the brown-chested jungle flycatcher.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Cochoa viridis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22710147A94236945. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22710147A94236945.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. Sangster, G; Per Alström; Emma Forsmark; Urban Olsson (2010). "Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of Old World chats and flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly at family, subfamily and genus level (Aves: Muscicapidae)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 57 (1): 380–392. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008. PMID   20656044. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  3. 1 2 3 Rasmussen, PC; JC Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volume 2. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. p. 372.
  4. Oates, EW (1890). Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume 2. London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 160–161.
  5. Delacour, Jean (1942). "The Whistling Thrushes (Genus Myiophoneus)" (PDF). The Auk. 59 (2): 246–264. doi:10.2307/4079555. JSTOR   4079555.
  6. 1 2 3 Ali S; SD Ripley (1998). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 9 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 19–20.
  7. Oates, EW (1905). Catalogue of the collection of birds' eggs in the British Museum. Volume 4. London: British Museum. p. 92.