The Himalayan Cutia is a bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 in the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Timaliidae. Its scientific name ultimately means "the khutya from Nepal", as Cutia is derived from the Nepali name for these birds, and nipalensis is Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 for "from Nepal".

This species inhabits the Himalayan region, from India to northern Thailand. A subspecies also occurs in Peninsular Malaysia. Previously the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Cutia

Cutia

The cutias are the bird genus Cutia in the family Timaliidae. These birds are found in montane forests of continental South and Southeast Asia. The name is derived from the Nepali name khatya or khutya for the type species, the Himalayan Cutia...

was monotypic

Monotypic

In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...

, but the Vietnamese Cutia

Vietnamese Cutia

The Vietnamese Cutia is a bird species in the family Timaliidae. It is found in Laos and Vietnam.It was long considered a subspecies of the Himalayan Cutia , making the genus Cutia monotypic. In recent times, it is more often elevated to full species status.Its natural habitat is tropical moist...

, for long lumped with the Himalayan birds as subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

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

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

 are tropical to subtropical humid montane forests. It is not a bird of the high mountains however, rather inhabiting broadleaf forest – e.g. of oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

s (Quercus) – of the foothills upwards of 1,500 m ASL

Above mean sea level

The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...

 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

Least Concern

Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...

; in Bhutan for example it is a fairly frequently seen resident.