Pitta | |
---|---|
Noisy pitta in Australia | |
Call of blue-winged pitta | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Pittidae |
Genus: | Pitta Vieillot, 1816 |
Type species | |
Corvus brachyurus [1] Linnaeus, 1766 | |
Species | |
See text. |
Pitta is a genus of birds in the Pittidae, or pitta family. They are secretive, brightly coloured birds that forage on the forest floor. They are long-legged and short-tailed with rounded wings. [2] They all have green on their upperparts with blue wing-patches. Many have dark heads. [3] Nest construction, incubation and rearing of nestlings is performed by both parents. [4] Incubation is completed in some 17 days, and the nestlings are altricial and nidicolous. [4] Some species are migratory. [3]
The antpittas, a Neotropical bird family of some 50 species, resemble the pittas in their hopping gait, furtive behaviour, long legs and short tails.
The genus Pitta was erected by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816. [5] In 1855 the English ornithologist George Robert Gray designated the type species as Corvus triostegus Sparrman. This is a junior synonym of Corvus brachyura Linnaeus, the Indian pitta. [6] [7] The word Pitta is from the Telugu language and means "pretty", "bauble" or "pet". [8]
The genus contains 20 species, distributed from Africa, through southern, eastern and south-eastern Asia, to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Australia. [9] It was formerly the sole genus in the family and contained 31 species. [2] However, following a 2006 study, some of the species were split off into two resurrected genera, Erythropitta and Hydrornis , though all members of the family continue to be known as "pittas". [3]
The genus contains 20 species: [9]
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
Pitta angolensis | African pitta | tropical and subtropical Africa | |
Pitta reichenowi | Green-breasted pitta | tropical Africa | |
Pitta brachyura | Indian pitta | Indian subcontinent | |
Pitta moluccensis | Blue-winged pitta | Australia and Southeast Asia | |
Pitta megarhyncha | Mangrove pitta | eastern India to western Southeast Asia | |
Pitta sordida | Western hooded pitta | mainland and maritime Southeast Asia | |
Pitta abbotti | Nicobar hooded pitta | Nicobar Islands | |
Pitta forsteni | Minahasa hooded pitta | north Sulawesi | |
Pitta novaeguineae | Eastern hooded pitta | New Guinea | |
Pitta rosenbergii | Biak hooded pitta | Biak (Cenderawasih Bay islands, northwest New Guinea) | |
Pitta nympha | Fairy pitta | East Asia | |
Pitta versicolor | Noisy pitta | eastern Australia and southern New Guinea | |
Pitta maxima | Ivory-breasted pitta | North Maluku | |
Pitta concinna | Ornate pitta | Lesser Sunda Islands | |
Pitta elegans | Elegant pitta | Lesser Sunda Islands | |
Pitta vigorsii | Banda Sea pitta | Maluku Islands | |
Pitta anerythra | Black-faced pitta | western Melanesia | |
Pitta steerii | Azure-breasted pitta | Philippines | |
Pitta superba | Superb pitta | Manus Island (north of Papua New Guinea) | |
Pitta iris | Rainbow pitta | northern Australia | |
Pardalotes or peep-wrens are a family, Pardalotidae, of very small, brightly coloured birds native to Australia, with short tails, strong legs, and stubby blunt beaks. This family is composed of four species in one genus, Pardalotus, and several subspecies. The name derives from a Greek word meaning "spotted". The family once contained several other species now split into the family Acanthizidae.
Cyanopica is a genus of magpie in the family Corvidae. They belong to a common lineage with the genus Perisoreus.
The accentors are a genus of birds in the family Prunellidae, which is endemic to the Old World. This small group of closely related passerines are all in the genus Prunella. All but the dunnock and the Japanese accentor are inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Europe and Asia; these two also occur in lowland areas, as does the Siberian accentor in the far north of Siberia. These birds are not strongly migratory, but they will leave the coldest parts of their range in winter and make altitudinal movements.
Pittas are a family, Pittidae, of passerine birds found in Asia, Australasia and Africa. There are 44 species of pittas, all similar in general appearance and habits. The pittas are Old World suboscines, and their closest relatives among other birds are in the genera Smithornis and Calyptomena. Initially placed in a single genus, as of 2009 they have been split into three genera: Pitta, Erythropitta and Hydrornis. Pittas are medium-sized by passerine standards, at 15 to 25 cm (5.9–9.8 in) in length, and stocky, with strong, longish legs and long feet. They have very short tails and stout, slightly decurved bills. Many have brightly coloured plumage.
The ioras are a small family, Aegithinidae, of four passerine bird species found in south and southeast Asia. The family is composed of a single genus, Aegithina. They were formerly grouped with the leafbirds and fairy-bluebirds, in the family Irenidae.
The avian genus Quiscalus contains seven of the 11 species of grackles, gregarious passerine birds in the icterid family. They are native to North and South America.
The drongos are a family, Dicruridae, of passerine birds of the Old World tropics. The 31 species in the family are placed in a single genus, Dicrurus.
The genus Passerina is a group of birds in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). Although not directly related to buntings in the family Emberizidae, they are sometimes known as the North American buntings.
Pipilo is a genus of birds in the American sparrow family Passerellidae. It is one of two genera containing birds with the common name towhee.
The Indian pitta is a passerine bird native to the Indian subcontinent. It inhabits scrub jungle, deciduous and dense evergreen forest. It breeds in the forests of the Himalayas, hills of central and western India, and migrates to other parts of the peninsula in winter. Although very colourful, it is usually shy and hidden in the undergrowth where it picks insects on the forest floor. It has a distinctive two note whistling call which is heard at dawn and dusk. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List as the population is considered large.
The friarbirds, also called leatherheads, are a groups of 18 relatively large honeyeaters in the genus Philemon. Additionally, the single member of the genus Melitograis is called the white-streaked friarbird. Friarbirds are found in Australia, Papua New Guinea, eastern Indonesia, and New Caledonia. They eat nectar, insects and other invertebrates, flowers, fruit, and seeds.
The king bird-of-paradise is a passerine bird of the Paradisaeidae (bird-of-paradise) family. It is considered by the IOC checklist to be the only member of the genus Cicinnurus, although the genus Diphyllodes is closely related and is subsumed under Cicinnurus by many other authorities.
Cacatua is a genus of cockatoos found from the Philippines and Wallacea east to the Solomon Islands and south to Australia. They have a primarily white plumage, an expressive crest, and a black or pale bill. Today, several species from this genus are considered threatened due to a combination of habitat loss and capture for the wild bird trade, with the blue-eyed cockatoo, Moluccan cockatoo, and umbrella cockatoo considered vulnerable, and the red-vented cockatoo and yellow-crested cockatoo considered critically endangered.
The rainbow pitta is a small passerine bird in the pitta family, Pittidae, endemic to northern Australia, most closely related to the superb pitta of Manus Island. It has a velvet black head with chestnut stripes above the eyes, olive green upper parts, black underparts, a bright red belly and an olive green tail. An Australian endemic, it lives in the monsoon forests and in some drier eucalypt forests.
The western hooded pitta is a passerine bird in the family Pittidae. It is common in eastern and southeastern Asia and maritime Southeast Asia, where it lives in several types of forests as well as on plantations and other cultivated areas. It is a green bird with a black head and chestnut crown. It forages on the ground for insects and their larvae, and also eats berries. It breeds between February and August, the pair being strongly territorial and building their nest on the ground. Incubation and care of the fledglings is done by both parents. The bird has a wide range, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern". It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Nicobar hooded pitta, the Minahasa hooded pitta, the eastern hooded pitta and the Biak hooded pitta.
The African pitta is an Afrotropical bird of the family Pittidae. It is a locally common to uncommon species, resident and migratory in the west, and an intra-African migrant between equatorial and southeastern Africa. They are elusive and hard to observe despite their brightly coloured plumage, and their loud, explosive calls are infrequently heard. The plump, somewhat thrush-like birds forage on leaf litter under the canopy of riparian or coastal forest and thickets, or in climax miombo forest. They spend much time during mornings and at dusk scratching in leaf litter or around termitaria, or may stand motionless for long periods. Following rains breeding birds call and display from the mid-canopy.
The blue-winged pitta is a passerine bird in the family Pittidae. It forms a superspecies with three other pittas, the Indian pitta, the fairy pitta and the mangrove pitta. A colourful bird, it has a black head with a buff stripe above the eye, a white collar, greenish upper parts, blue wings, buff underparts and a reddish vent area. Its range extends from India to Malaysia, Indonesia, southern China and the Philippines. Its habitat is moist woodland, parks and gardens and it avoids dense forest. It feeds mainly on insects and worms. It breeds in the spring, building an untidy spherical nest on the ground, often near water and between tree roots. A clutch of about five eggs is laid and incubated by both parents, hatching after about sixteen days.
Vireo is a genus of small passerine birds restricted to the New World. Vireos typically have dull greenish plumage, but some are brown or gray on the back and some have bright yellow underparts. They resemble wood warblers apart from their slightly larger size and heavier bills, which in most species have a very small hook at the tip. The legs are stout.
Erythropitta is a genus of pitta. The members of the genus are found mostly in South-east Asia, with one species, the Papuan pitta, ranging into northeast Australia. The genus was formerly merged with the large genus Pitta, but a 2006 study split the family into three genera.
Hydrornis is a genus of pitta in the family Pittidae. The genus contains thirteen species, found in South-east Asia. The genus was formerly merged with the genus Pitta, but a 2006 study split the family into three genera.