Bar-bellied Pitta - BirdForum Opus

Alternative name: Elliot's Pitta

Photo © by nhattanla
CucPhuong, Vietnam, March 2017

Hydrornis elliotii

Identification

Female
Photo © by appendiculata191
Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam, April 2011

19 - 21cm (7½-8¼ in)

• Blue-green top of head, bluer on sides, broad black band from lores to nape
• Dark green upperparts, faintly tinged blue
• Bright blue-violet tail
• White chin and upper throat
• Blue-green lower throat and upper breast
• Barred yellow and black rest of underparts, dark blue belly centre
• Dark red-brown to black bill
• Fleshy-coloured feet

Females have buffish-brown top of head and nape with greenish central crown and less yellow on underparts.
Juveniles are dark brown, darker on head side, spotted buff above and on breast, pale throat and mostly orange bill.

Distribution

Extreme south-eastern Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Fairly common to common.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.
Formerly placed in genus Pitta.

Habitat

Lowland rainforests. Also in secondary forest, logged areas, often on limestone.

Behaviour

Diet

Reported food items are termites, caterpillars and earthworms.
Forages by pecking on ground and turning over leaves.

Breeding

Breeding season probably from April to June. The domed nest with a side entrance is made of twigs, palm leaves, bamboo and rattan. It's placed low in a palm or up to 5m above the ground in a tree.

Movements

A sedentary species.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Dickinson, EC, ed. 2003. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 3rd ed., with updates to October 2008 (Corrigenda 8). Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691117010
3. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2010. IOC World Bird Names (version 2.7). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
4. BF Member observations
5. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and D Christie, eds. 2003. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 8: Broadbills to Tapaculos. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334504

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Bar-bellied Pitta. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Bar-bellied_Pitta

External Links

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