Cochoa

The cochoas (from cocho, Nepali for Cochoa purpurea) are medium-sized frugivorous, insectivorous and molluscivorous birds in the genus Cochoa. Their bright contrasting plumage patterns, sexual dimorphism and feeding habits made their systematic position difficult to ascertain in early times, Richard Bowdler Sharpe placed them with the Prionopidae in 1879 while many considered them as some kind of aberrant thrush. Recent molecular studies have suggested that there is support for their inclusion in the thrush family Turdidae, while some suggest a relationship closer to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.

These are southeast Asian forest-dwelling species, often found near water.


 * Purple Cochoa, Cochoa purpurea
 * Green Cochoa, Cochoa viridis
 * Sumatran Cochoa, Cochoa beccarii
 * Javan Cochoa, Cochoa azurea