Alternative name: Great Blue Pitta
- Hydrornis caerulea
Identification
25 - 29 cm. Sexually dimorphic.
Adult Male
Forehead, crown and nape black. Upperparts, wings and tail deep blue. Long grey supercillia, grey lores, broad(ish) black eye stripe from behind the eye, ear coverts, "cheeks" and throat grey with thin black margins. Broken black collar from the sides of the nape and across the breast. Rest of the underparts washed dirty buff. Bill dark grey, eye grey and legs pale flesh pink. Both taxa very similar.
Adult Female
Forehead, crown and nape rufous buff, thinly barred black. Back rufous. Rump and tail deep blue. Scapulars dull brown, wings dark brown. Rufous buff supercillia, dusky lores, black eye stripe behind the eye, ear coverts buff, faint pale sub-moustachial stripe and dusky malar stripe. Thin, broken black collar across the base of the nape and across the breast. Underparts rufous buff. Bill grey, eye brown and legs flesh pink. Bornean birds as nominate except for more rufous crown with darker margins making it look scalloped.
Juveniles
Mottled golden ochre and dark brown, paler below. The tail is dull blue, the bill orange-fleshed with a yellow tip.
Distribution
Patchily distributed from southern Burma to southern Thailand, peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo.
Fairly widespread but scarce to rare and very shy.
Taxonomy
Formerly placed in genus Pitta. Closely related to Schneider's Pitta and Blue Pitta.
Subspecies
There are 2 subspecies[1]:
- H. c. caerulea:
- Southern Myanmar, southern Thailand, Malay Peninsula and Sumatra
- H. c. hosei:
Habitat
Lowland and sub-montaine forest. Doesn't appear to be dependant on primary forest.
Usually found at low altitudes but recorded up to 1200m.
Behaviour
A terrestrial, shy and skulking species.
Diet
Feeds primarily on snails and earthworms, takes also insects, their larvae, frogs and small snakes. Feeds in leaf litter, overturning leaves like a thrush.
Breeding
Breeding season March to November. The domed nest is made of broad dead leaves, bamboo leaves and sticks. It's placed up to 3m up the ground in a fork of a small palm. Lays 2-3 eggs.
A resident species.
Vocalisation
Loud, rather melancholic, disyllabic flutey whistle.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- 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
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2010. IOC World Bird Names (version 2.7). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
- 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
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Giant Pitta. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Giant_Pitta
