Purple cochoa

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Purple cochoa
Purple Cochoa Khangchendzonga National park West Sikkim India 08.11.2016.jpg
Male from West Sikkim
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Genus: Cochoa
Species:
C. purpurea
Binomial name
Cochoa purpurea
Hodgson, 1836

The purple cochoa (Cochoa purpurea) 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 (Old World flycatchers). They are found in dark forested areas and is found in the canopy, where it often sits motionless.

Contents

Description

This bird appears dark in the shade of the forest and the colours become clear only when it is lit by the sun. The crown is silvery blue and a black mask runs over the eye. A grey carpal patch is present at the base of the black wing feathers and a wing patch is prominent. The tail is silvery blue with a black terminal band. The male has dull purplish grey secondaries and coverts and the body is greyish while the female has rufous replacing the purple. [2] [3] [4]

An artist's illustration of both male and female. Cochoa purpurea.jpg
An artist's illustration of both male and female.

The genus name is from the Nepali word for the bird and was used by Brian Houghton Hodgson. [5] [6] The family position of the cochoas has been unclear with some sources suggesting that they belong to the Muscicapidae while others have suggested them to be in the family Turdidae. The latter suggestion has found more support in recent molecular studies. [7]

Distribution and habitat

It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. In India, it is found along the Himalayas with the western limit about 100 km west of Musoorie. [8]

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.[ citation needed ]

Behaviour and ecology

The species is not very active and is found mainly in the canopy. The breeding season is May to July, when it builds a cup shaped nest in a fork. The nest is covered with moss, lichens and a white thread-like fungus which is said to be distinctive. Three pale sea-green eggs with some blotchy markings are laid and both sexes take turns in incubation. The birds are shy at the nest and slip away even when disturbances are afar. [9] The song consists of is a low whistle while other calls include a sit and soft trrrs. [2] Charles Inglis reported that the birds have an iora-like whistling call in the mornings and evenings. [10] These cochoas feed on berries, insects and molluscs. [9] [11] While picking fruits from trees they were observed behaving like flycatchers doing short sallies. [12]

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.

<i>Cochoa</i> Genus of birds

The cochoas are medium-sized frugivorous, insectivorous and molluscivorous birds in the genus Cochoa. Their bright contrasting plumage patterns, sexual dimorphism and feeding habits made their systematic position difficult to ascertain in early times, Richard Bowdler Sharpe placed them with the Prionopidae in 1879 while many considered them as some kind of aberrant thrush. The genus was previously included in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae but molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that it is more closely related to the thrush family Turdidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puff-throated babbler</span> Species of bird

The puff-throated babbler or spotted babbler is a species of passerine bird found in Asia. They are found in scrub and moist forest mainly in hilly regions. They forage in small groups on the forest floor, turning around leaf litter to find their prey and usually staying low in the undergrowth where they can be hard to spot. However, they have loud and distinct calls, including a morning song, contact and alarm calls. It is the type species of the genus Pellorneum which may, however, currently include multiple lineages.

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

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

The pied thrush is a member of the thrush family found in India and Sri Lanka. The males are conspicuously patterned in black and white while the females are olive brown and speckled. They breed in the central Himalayan forests and winter in the hill forests of southern India and Sri Lanka. Like many other thrushes, they forage on leaf litter below forest undergrowth and fly into trees when disturbed and sit still making them difficult to locate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black eagle</span> Species of bird

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

The purple sunbird is a small bird in the sunbird family found mainly in South and Southeast Asia but extending west into parts of the Arabian peninsula. Like other sunbirds they feed mainly on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. They have a fast and direct flight and can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird but often perch at the base of flowers. The males can appear all black in harsh sunlight but the purple iridescence is visible on closer observation or under good light conditions. Females are olive above and yellowish below.

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

The Indian robin is a species of passarine bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is widespread in the Indian subcontinent and ranges across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The males of the northern subspecies have brown backs whose extent gradually reduces southwards, with the males of the southern subspecies having all-black backs. They are commonly found in open scrub areas and often seen running along the ground or perching on low thorny shrubs and rocks. The long tail is usually held up and the chestnut undertail coverts and dark body make them easily distinguishable from pied bushchats and Oriental magpie-robins.

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

The Oriental magpie-robin is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but now considered an Old World flycatcher. They are distinctive black and white birds with a long tail that is held upright as they forage on the ground or perch conspicuously. Occurring across most of the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia, they are common birds in urban gardens as well as forests. They are particularly well known for their songs and were once popular as cagebirds.

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

The Kashmir flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It breeds in the Northwest Himalayas and winters in southern India and Sri Lanka. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the red-breasted flycatcher, Ficedula parva, which is its closest living relative. Males are distinctive in having a blackish border to the reddish throat while the females can easily be confused with those of F. parva.

<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">Black baza</span> Species of bird

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<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">Green cochoa</span> Species of bird

The green cochoa is a bird species that was variously placed with the thrushes of family Turdidae or the related Muscicapidae. It is considered closer to the former.

<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">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.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Cochoa purpurea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22710144A94236723. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22710144A94236723.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Rasmussen PC & JC Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volume 2. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. p. 371.
  3. Oates, EW (1890). Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume 2. Taylor and Francis, London. pp. 159–160.
  4. Hussain,SA; Waltner,Robert C (1975). "Occurrence of the Purple Cochoa Cochoa purpurea Hodgson, near Mussoorie, U.P." J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 72 (2): 552.
  5. Jobling, James A. (1991). A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Oxford University Press. p.  57. ISBN   0-19-854634-3.
  6. Hodgson, B.H. (1836). "Description of two new species belonging to a new form of the Meruline Group of Birds, with indication of their generic character". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal: 358–360.
  7. 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. Bibcode:2010MolPE..57..380S. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008. PMID   20656044.
  8. Jamdar, Nitin (1986). "Notes on Orange Parrotbill (Paradoxornis nipalensis), Blackfaced Flycatcher-Warbler (Abroscopus schisticeps) and Purple Cochoa (Cochoa purpurea) from Garhwal Himalayas". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (2): 444–446.
  9. 1 2 Ali, S. & S.D. Ripley (1998). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 9 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 17–19.
  10. Inglis, C.M (1935). "The Purple Thrush (Cochoa purpurea)". The Journal of the Darjeeling Natural History Society. 10 (1): 28.
  11. Baker, ECS (1924). Fauna of British India. Volume 2 (2nd ed.). Taylor and Francis, London. pp. 184–185.
  12. Viswanathan, Ashwin; Naniwadekar, Rohit (1 February 2015). "Diet and foraging behaviour of Purple Cochoa Cochoa purpurea in Namdapha National Park, India". Forktail. 30: 145–147.