Green Cochoa

About the Green Cochoa

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. 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. This form was once described as a new species Cochoa rothschildi. First year birds have dark shaft streaks on the body feathers.

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... Wikipedia →