The Himalayan cutia (''Cutia nipalensis'') is a

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Leiothrichidae The laughingthrushes are a family, Leiothrichidae, of Old World passerine birds. They are diverse in size and coloration. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The entire fami ...

. Its

scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

ultimately means "the ''khutya'' from Nepal", as ''Cutia'' is derived from the Nepali name for these birds, and ''nipalensis'' is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "from Nepal". This species inhabits the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

n region, from India to northern Thailand. A subspecies also occurs in Peninsular Malaysia. Previously the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Cutia :''The agoutis of the genus '' Dasyprocta'' are locally known as "cutias". See also Hutia, where the name for these rodents originated.'' The cutias are the passerine bird genus ''Cutia'' in the family Leiothrichidae. These birds are found in mon ...

'' was

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

, but the Vietnamese cutia, for long lumped with the Himalayan birds as a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

, has been recently raised to full species status as ''C. legalleni''. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

humid Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depen ...

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

s. It is not a bird of the high mountains, however, rather inhabiting

broadleaf forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

– e.g. of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s (''Quercus'') – of the

foothill Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

s upwards of 1,500 m

ASL American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

or so, but rarely if ever ascending above 2,500 m ASL. The Himalayan cutia is not considered threatened by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

, retaining its pre-split status as a Species of

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

; in Bhutan, for example, it is a fairly frequently seen resident.Inskipp ''et al.'' (2000), IUCN (2007), BLI (2008a,b,c)

Gallery

File:Himalayan Cutia Neora Valley National Park Darjeeling West Bengal India 28.04.2016.jpg, From

Neora Valley National Park Neora Valley National Park is a national park in Kalimpong district, West Bengal, India that was established in 1986. It spreads over an area of , and is a rich biological zone in eastern India. It is the land of the red panda in the pristine und ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

File:Himalayan Cutia in Flock Neora Valley National Park West Bengal India 16.04.2016.jpg, A flock consisting of two males (♂) and a female (♀) from

. File:Himalayan Cutia Cutia nipalensis Mizoram DSC 1741 (34).JPG, From

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...

. File:Himalayan Cutia Pabyuk-Naitam Sikkim March 2019.jpg, From Pabyuk-Naitam,

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

Footnotes

References

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

(BLI) (2008a
Himalayan Cutia Species Factsheet
Retrieved 2008-MAY-27. *

(BLI) (2008b)
[2008 IUCN Redlist status changes]
Retrieved 2008-MAY-23. * Collar, N.J. & Robson, Craig (2007): Family Timaliidae (Babblers). ''In:'' del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Christie, D.A. (eds.): ''Handbook of Birds of the World, Volume 12'' (Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees): 70-291. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. * Inskipp, Carol; Inskipp, Tim & Sherub (2000): The ornithological importance of Thrumshingla National Park, Bhutan. ''

Forktail The forktails are small insectivorous birds in the genus ''Enicurus''. They were formerly in the thrush family, Turdidae, but are more often now treated as part of the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. Their name derives from their lon ...

'' 14: 147–162
PDF fulltext
*

International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN) (2007):
2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
'. IUCN, Gland. * Pittie, Aasheesh (2004): A dictionary of scientific bird names originating from the Indian region. ''Buceros: ENVIS Newsletter Avian Ecology & Inland Wetlands'' 9(2): 1-30
PDF fulltext
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1092863

Himalayan cutia The Himalayan cutia (''Cutia nipalensis'') is a bird species in the family (biology), family Leiothrichidae. Its scientific name ultimately means "the ''khutya'' from Nepal", as ''Cutia'' is derived from the Nepali (language), Nepali name for the ...

Birds of Bhutan Birds of the Himalayas Birds of Nepal Birds of Northeast India Birds of Laos Birds of Myanmar