Pitta (genus)

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Pitta
Pitta versicolor - Kembla Heights.jpg
Noisy pitta in Australia
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Call of blue-winged pitta
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pittidae
Genus: Pitta
Vieillot, 1816
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.[1] They all have green on their upperparts with blue wing-patches. Many have dark heads.[2] Nest construction, incubation and rearing of nestlings is performed by both parents.[3] Incubation is completed in some 17 days, and the nestlings are altricial and nidicolous.[3] Some species are migratory.[2]

The antpittas, a Neotropical bird family of some 50 species, resemble the pittas in their hopping gait, furtive behaviour, long legs and short tails.

Taxonomy[]

The genus Pitta was erected by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1816.[4] 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.[5][6] The word Pitta is from the Telugu language and means "pretty", "bauble" or "pet".[7]

The genus contains 16 species, distributed from Africa, through southern, eastern and south-eastern Asia, to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Australia.[8] It was formerly the sole genus in the family and contained 31 species.[1] 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".[2]

Species[]

The 14-16 species in the genus are:[8][9]

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Hooded Pitta, crop.jpg Pitta sordida Hooded pitta mainland and maritime Southeast Asia
Pitta maxima Ivory-breasted pitta North Maluku
Pitta concinna Ornate pitta Lesser Sunda Islands
Pitta superba Superb pitta Manus Island (north of Papua New Guinea)
Azure-breasted Pitta-6 by Jainy Maria.tif Pitta steerii Azure-breasted pitta Philippines
African Pitta (Pitta angolensis), Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.jpg Pitta angolensis African pitta tropical and subtropical Africa
Pitta reichenowi Green-breasted pitta tropical Africa
Indian pitta (Pitta brachyura) Photograph by Shantanu Kuveskar.jpg Pitta brachyura Indian pitta Indian subcontinent
Fairy Pitta 3073 crop.jpg Pitta nympha Fairy pitta East Asia
Pitta moluccensis - Kaeng Krachan.jpg Pitta moluccensis Blue-winged pitta Australia and Southeast Asia
Pitta megarhyncha 1 - Singapore.jpg Pitta megarhyncha Mangrove pitta eastern India to western Southeast Asia
Elegant Pitta 4.jpg Pitta elegans Elegant pitta Lesser Sunda Islands
Pitta vigorsii Banda Sea pitta Maluku Islands
Pitta versicolor - Kembla Heights.jpg Pitta versicolor Noisy pitta eastern Australia and southern New Guinea
Pitta anerythra Black-faced pitta western Melanesia
Rainbow Pitta Mark Gillow.jpg Pitta iris Rainbow pitta northern Australia

Gallery[]

  • Video of mangrove pitta
  • Incubating green-breasted pitta
  • Hooded pitta nest with egg in Borneo
  • Egg of a noisy pitta
  • Snail shells beside a noisy pitta's "anvil"

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Zimmerman, Dale A.; et al. (1999). Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania. Princeton University Press. p. 495. ISBN 0691010226.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Irestedt, M.; Ohlson, J.I.; Zuccon, D.; Källersjö, M.; Ericson, P.G.P. (2006). "Nuclear DNA from old collections of avian study skins reveals the evolutionary history of the Old World suboscines (Aves: Passeriformes)" (PDF). Zoologica Scripta. 35: 567–580. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2006.00249.x.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Tarboton, Warwick (2001). A Guide to the Nests and Eggs of Southern African Birds. Cape Town: Struik. p. 141. ISBN 1-86872-616-9.
  4. ^ Vieillot, Louis Jean Pierre (1816). Analyse d'une Nouvelle Ornithologie Élémentaire (in French). Paris: Deterville/self. p. 42, Num. 137.
  5. ^ Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the genera and subgenera of birds contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 43.
  6. ^ Traylor, Melvin A. Jr, ed. (1979). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 8. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 310. |volume= has extra text (help)
  7. ^ Jobling, J.A. (2019). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "NZ wrens, broadbills & pittas". World Bird List Version 8.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Species Updates – IOC World Bird List". Retrieved 2021-01-12.
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