Himalayan Cutia

The Himalayan cutia is a bird of the family Leiothrichidae. Its scientific name means the khutya from Nepal, cutia deriving from the Nepali name for these birds. It inhabits the Himalayan region from India to northern Thailand, with a subspecies in Peninsular Malaysia. The genus was previously monotypic, but the Vietnamese cutia, long lumped with the Himalayan birds, has recently been raised to full species status (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is not a bird of the high mountains but of broadleaf forest, for example of oaks, from the foothills upwards of about 1,500 m, rarely if ever ascending above 2,500 m. The cached account gives no description, measurements or breeding information. SoIB 2023 rates it a Moderate conservation priority, a resident forest bird that eats invertebrates, with a Restricted range of about 28,200 km² and insufficient data on trends (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).