Green Cochoa

Overview

The Cochoa viridis is a Himalayan thrush classified as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List. It is a species that has variously been placed with the thrushes of family Turdidae or the related Old World flycatchers, though it is considered closer to the former.

Identification

• Males exhibit moss green plumage with a blue crown, blue wings, and a blue tail marked by a broad black band.
• Females display a more greenish body with rusty spots on the wing coverts, and their secondaries and tertiaries have yellowish-brown bases with narrow blue edging.
• Some plumages feature a white collar on the sides of the neck, a trait once described as the species Cochoa rothschildi.
• First-year birds are distinguishable by dark shaft streaks on their body feathers.
• The song is a thin and clear feeeee that dies away, accompanied by calls such as a short high-pitched pok and harsh notes.

Habitat

This species inhabits subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and moist montane forests across Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam, with possible presence in Bhutan. Most records are located east of northwest Bengal, though the distribution in winter in India remains unclear as the bird is found primarily in summer.

Diet

The green cochoa usually feeds close to the ground on mollusks, insects, and berries. It occasionally launches aerial sallies to capture insects, often observed in pairs or small groups perched in tall trees.

Did you know?

The nest, which resembles that of the purple cochoa but is usually placed close to water, is incubated by both parents taking turns.