Wildlifeof Vietnam
Purple Cochoa
Thrushes, Chats & Flycatchers
Photo: (c) dhfischer, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY
Cochoa purpurea
Rare visitor: recorded only occasionally in this country
Basic stats
Diet
Berries, insects and molluscs
Habitat
Temperate forests; cup nest in a fork covered with moss, lichens and a white thread-like fungus
Range
Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam; in India along the Himalayas with the western limit about 100km west of Mussoorie
Clutch size
3 pale sea-green eggs with blotchy markings
The purple cochoa is a brightly coloured, quiet and elusive bird of the temperate forests of Asia, found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam. It appears dark in the forest shade and its colours show only in sunlight: the crown is silvery blue with a black mask over the eye, the tail silvery blue with a black terminal band. The male has dull purplish-grey secondaries and coverts, and the female has rufous replacing the purple (Wikipedia, general species account).
The breeding season is May to July, when it builds a cup-shaped nest in a fork, covered with moss, lichens and a distinctive white thread-like fungus. Three pale sea-green, blotchy eggs are laid and both sexes incubate in turns. The birds are shy at the nest. The song is a low whistle, and it feeds on berries, insects and molluscs.
Quick answers
- What does the Purple Cochoa eat?
- Berries, insects and molluscs
- What habitat does the Purple Cochoa live in?
- Temperate forests; cup nest in a fork covered with moss, lichens and a white thread-like fungus
- Where is the Purple Cochoa found?
- Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam; in India along the Himalayas with the western limit about 100km west of Mussoorie
- How many eggs does the Purple Cochoa lay?
- 3 pale sea-green eggs with blotchy markings