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PITTAS

Order Passeriformes    Family Pittidae


Pittas are a family of passerine birds mainly found in tropical Asia and Australasia, although a couple of species live in Africa. Pittas are all similar in general structure and habits. The name is derived from the word pitta in the Telugu language of Andhra Pradesh in India and is a generic local name used for all small birds. Pittas are medium-sized by passerine standards, at 15 to 25 centimetres in length, and stocky, with longish strong legs and long feet. They have very short tails and stout, slightly decurved bills. Many, but not all, have brightly coloured plumageThese are fairly terrestrial birds of wet forest floors. They eat snails, insects and similar invertebrate prey. Pittas are mostly solitary and lay up to six eggs in a large spherical nest in a tree or shrub, or sometimes on the ground. Both parents care for the young. 


Genus Erythropitta Found: southeast Asia and one species also in Australasia

Pitta,_Black-headed  also Black-crowned Pitta   Erythropitta ussheri  Found: Borneo
Image by: 1) Charles Sharp - Borneo  2) Mike_Prince


Pitta,_Blue-banded  Erythropitta arquata  Found: Borneo
Image by: 1) Jacques_Erard  2) Yeo_Siew_Teck


Pitta,_Garnet   Erythropitta granatina  Found: Borneo, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand
Image by: 1) Parinya_Padungtin  2) hanifridz
1, 2) E. g. coccinea  2)


Pitta,_Graceful  Erythropitta venusta  Found: Malasia, Indonesia
Image by: 1) Dougjj - Jurong Bird Park, Singapore  2) Dave_Gandy - West Sumatra


Pitta,_Papuan   Erythropitta macklotii   Found: New Guinea
Image by: 1) Nicolas_Huet


Pitta,_Red-bellied  Erythropitta erythrogaster  Found: Australia, New Guinea, Philippines
The male Red-bellied Pitta has red-brown crown, nape, side of neck; cinnamon cheeks; blue upper-mantle; dark green lower mantle; blue rump, tail; red belly. Female duller and more green; red belly. The North Moluccan (E. e. rufiventris) and South Moluccan Pitta (E, e. rubrinucha) are also consider to be separate species
Image by: 1, 2) Katerina_Tvardikov - New Guineaa  3) Jason_Thompson - North Sulawesi  4) Francesco_Veronesi - Luzon


Pitta,_Sangihe   Erythropitta caeruleitorques  Found: Sangihe Islands of Indonesia
Image by: 1) John_Gerrard_Keulemans


Pitta,_Sula  Erythropitta dohertyi  Found: Sula and Banggai Islands of the Philippines
Image by: 1) John_Gerrard_Keulemans  2) Filip_Verbelen  3) Bram_Demeulemeester


Pitta,_Sulawesi   Erythropitta celebensis  Found: Sulawesi, Manterawu, and Togian Islands of Indonesia
Image by: 1) Patko_Erica  2) Bijdragen
1) Juvenile


Pitta,_Whiskered  Erythropitta kochi  Found: Luzon in Philippines
Image by: 1) Joseph_Smit  2) P_Khoo  3) Yann_Muzka



Genus Hydrornis

Found : southeas Asia

Pitta,_Bar-bellied  also Elliot's Pitta  Hydrornis elliotii  Found: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam
Image by: 1, 3) Mohit_Kumar_Ghatak - Vietnam 2) Piyushgtg - Vietnam 


Pitta,_Blue  Hydrornis cyaneus  Found: China, India, southeast Asia
Image by: 1, 2) JJ_Harrison - Thailand  3) Jason_Thompson - Thailand
1, 2) Female 3, 4) Male


Pitta,_Blue-headed  Hydrornis baudii  Endemic to Borneo
The male Blue-heade Pitta has chestnut-red back; bright blue crown; black cheeks, breast-band; white throat; violet tail, belly; black wings marked with white. Female has buff back, head, underparts; blue tail.
Image by: 1) Kokay Szabolcs  2) Vun_Soo_Kiong - Malaysia  3) Charles_Leavell - Malaysia   Mark_Gurney
2) Female 3, 4) Male


Pitta,_Blue-naped  Hydrornis nipalensis  Found: Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Vietnam.
The Blue-naped Pitta green upperparts;; brown tail with some green. Male has blue nape.
Image by: 1) Rofikul_Islam - India 2) Jainy_Kuriakose - India  3) Marc_Ameels  4) Imram
1) Juvenile 2) Female 3, 4) Male


Pitta,_Blue-rumped Hydrornis soror  Found: Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam
Image by: 1) Parinya_Padungtin - Vietnam  2) Mohit_Kumar_Ghatak - Vietnam 3) Yann_Muzka - Vietnam
1) Female 2, 3) Male


Pitta,_Bornean-banded  Hydrornis schwaneri  Found: Borneo
The Bornean-banded Pitta, Javan-banded Pitta, and Malayan-banded Pitta were previously considered one species - the Banded Pitta.
Image by: 1) P_Khoo  2) John_Gould  James_Eaton
2) Pair  3) Male


Pitta,_Eared  Hydrornis phayrei  Found: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam
Image by: 1) Outram Bangs  2) James_Eaton  3) Peter_Ericsson - Thailand
1) Left - female,  Right- male  2) Female  3) Male


Pitta,_Giant Hydrornis caeruleus  Found: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand
Image by: 1) Quarti 2) Jacques_Erard - Borneo  3)Cheng_Heng_Yee - Thailand
1, 2) Female 3) Male


Pitta,_Gurney's  Hydrornis gurneyi  Found: Myanma, Thailand
Image by: 1) Ron_Knight 2) Francesco_Veronesi  3) Michael_Gillam
1,2 ) Female 3) Male


Pitta,_Javan-banded   Hydrornis guajanus  Found: Java and Bali Indonesia
The Bornean-banded Pitta, Javan-banded Pitta, and Malayan-banded Pitta were previously considered one species - the Banded Pitta.
Image by: 1, 2) Doug_Janson  3) Waskito_Kukuh


Pitta,_Malayan-banded   Hydrornis irena  Found: Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra
The Bornean-banded Pitta, Javan-banded Pitta, and Malayan-banded Pitta were previously considered one species - the Banded Pitta.
Image by: 1) Hiyashi_Haka  2) JJ_Harrison - Thailand  3) Jason_Thompson - Thailand 4) Francesco_Veronesi - Thailand 


Pitta,_Rusty-naped Hydrornis oatesi  Found: hina, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam
The male Rusty-naped Pitta has deep brown head with rusty nape; brown underparts; small black stripe hehind eyes. Female duller than male with vague dark scaling  on lower throat.
Image by: 1, 2) JJ_Harrison  3) Jerry_Oldenettel - Thailand  4) Jason_Thompson - Thailand


Pitta,_Schneider's  Hydrornis schneideri  Found: Sumatra in Indonesia
Image by: 1, 4) James_Eaton 2) Justin_Rayboun_Smith  3) Janos_Olah
1) Juvenile 2) Female 3, 4) Male



Genus Pitta 
Found : mainly Asia; 2 in Africa; a few in Australasia
Species in Genus Pitta are secretive, brightly coloured birds that forage on the forest floor.

Pitta,_African  Pitta angolensis  Found: Afica
The African Pitta has green upperparts; pale blue upper-tail, rump; broad black eye streak, crown; buff supercilium; olive-yellow breast; red belly.
Image by: 1) Nrg800  2) Graeme_White  3) Derek_Keats


Pitta,_Azure-breasted  Pitta steerii  Found: Philippines
Image by: 1) Philippine_Post  2)  Jainy_Maria


Pitta,_Black-faced Pitta anerythra  Found: Buka Island in New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands
Image by: 1) Katerina_Tvardikova  2) Guy_Dutson - Solomon Islands


Pitta,_Blue-winged  Pitta moluccensis   Found: southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia
The Blue-winged Pitta has mainly green upperparts; blue wings; reddish vent; mainly black head; buff supercilium; buff underparts.
Similar to
: Mangrove Pitta. The Mangrove Pitta has much bigger bill than Blue-winged Pitta.
Image by: 1, 5) Doug Janson   2) JJ_Harrison - Thailand  3) Andy_Li    4) Suzana_K



Pitta,_Elegant  Pitta elegans  Found: Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia and East Timor
Image by: Jeff Delonge  2) Peter_Ericsson  3) Yann_Muzka


Pitta,_Fairy Pitta nympha  Found: Borneo, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan
The Fariy Pitta has green mantle; green and cobalt shoulders and upper-tail; blue rump; dark green tail with cobalt tip; chestnut crown; whitish supercilium; wide black eye-line; mainly cream colored underpart turning to red at belly.
Image by: 1) Jason Thompson - Thailand  2) Alnus  3) 2015Hank - Taiwan  4) Hiyashi_Haka


Pitta,_Garnet  Pitta granatina  Found: Asia
Image by: Kokay Szabolc


Pitta,_Green-breasted Pitta reichenowi  Found: Africa
The Green-breasted Pitta has black mask; white throat; green breast.
Image by: 1) Greg_Miles- Uganda


Pitta,_Hooded  Pitta sordida  Found: southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, New Guinea
The Hooded Pitta has dark-green upperparts; black head, chin, throat; white patch on primaries; blue-green lower-breast, belly; black patch on central belly; some have chestnut crown.
Image by:  1, 2) Katerina_Tvardikova - New Guinea    3, 4) Dick Daniels - San Diego Zoo  5) JJ_Harrison  6) Jason_Thompson - Thailand



Pitta,_Indian  Pitta brachyura  Found: Asia
The Indian Pitta has green upperparts, blue tail; mainly buff underparts; red lower belly; thick black eye-line; buff crown stripe; white throat, neck.
Image by: 1) nidhingpoothully  2) Koshy_Koshy- India  3) Tarique_Sani  4) Shantanu_Kuveskar


Pitta,_Ivory-breasted  Pitta maxima  Found: North Maluku in Indonesia
Image by: 1) Marcel_Holyoak  2) Yann_Muzka


Pitta,_Mangrove Pitta megarhyncha  Found: Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia
The Mangrove Pitta has greenish upperparts; reddish vent; wide black eye-line; buff crown; white chin; buff underparts.
Image by: 1, 3) Darren_Bellerby - Singapore  2) Dchai


Pitta,_Noisy  Pitta versicolor Found: Australia, Indonesia
The Noisy Pitta has green back, wings; black head, nape with chrestnut crown; black tail.
Image by: 1, 2) Carmy Carms   3) Tatters - Queensland  4) David_Cook - New South Wales


Pitta,_Rainbow  Pitta iris  Found: Australia
The Rainbow Pitta has green upperparts; pale blue shoulder; black head, underparts, bill; reddish-brown streak along side of crown; pink legs.
Image by: 1) Geoff_Whalan - Northern Territory  2) Leo_UdB  3) Tom_Tarrant  4) Lip Kee Yap 


Pitta,_Superb  Pitta superba  Found: island northeast of New Guinea
Image by: 1) Katerina_Tvardikov  2) Geoff_Jones





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