Himalayan Cutia

Open encyclopedia reference

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

This species inhabits the Himalayan region, from India to northern Thailand. A subspecies also occurs in Peninsular Malaysia. Previously the genus Cutia was monotypic, but the Vietnamese cutia, for long lumped with the Himalayan birds as a subspecies, has been recently raised to full species status as C. legalleni.

Its natural habitats are tropical to subtropical humid montane forests. It is not a bird of the high mountains, however, rather inhabiting broadleaf forest – e.g. of oaks (Quercus) – of the foothills upwards of 1,500 m ASL or so, but rarely if ever ascending above 2,500 m ASL.

The Himalayan cutia is not considered threatened by the IUCN, retaining its pre-split status as a Species of Least Concern; in Bhutan, for example, it is a fairly frequently seen resident.

Wikipedia contributors, Himalayan cutia; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:45:16.558181+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Cutia nipalensis Hodgson, 1837

Name authority

Hodgson, 1837

Common name

Himalayan Cutia

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Leiothrichidae

Genus

Cutia

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderPasseriformes
10. familyLeiothrichidae Swainson, 1832
11. genusCutia Hodgson, 1837
12. speciesCutia nipalensis Hodgson, 1837

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Cutia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 113 records assigned to Leiothrichidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. Hodgson, & Brian Houghton. (1837). Additions to the ornithology of Nepal. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. 5, No. 60. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:32MTS. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.