Urocissa Explained

Urocissa is a genus of birds in the Corvidae, a family that contains the crows, jays, and magpies.

The genus was established by German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1850.^[1] The type species was subsequently designated as the red-billed blue magpie (Urocissa erythroryncha).^[2] The name Urocissa combines the Ancient Greek oura meaning "tail" and kissa meaning "magpie" .^[3]

The genus contains five species:^[4]

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
	U. caerulea		Taiwan
	U. erythroryncha		Western Himalayas eastwards into Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam
	U. flavirostris		Indian subcontinent including the lower Himalayas, with a disjunct population in Vietnam
	U. ornata		Sri Lanka
	U. whiteheadi		Southern China, northern Vietnam, and north and central Laos

Notes and References

1. Book: Cabanis, Jean . Jean Cabanis . 1850–1851 . Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt . 1 . de, la . Halberstadt . R. Frantz . 87 .
2. Book: Mayr . Ernst . Ernst Mayr . Greenway . James C. Jr . 1962 . Check-list of Birds of the World . 15 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 240 .
3. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 397 .
4. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . 2019 . Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise . World Bird List Version 9.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 25 August 2019 .