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Red-bellied Pitta (1 Viewer)

D

dnsallen

Well-known member
I can't find this as a thread yet...
The spatio-temporal colonization and diversification across the
Indo-Pacific by a ‘great speciator’ (Aves, *Erythropitta erythrogaster*)
Martin Irestedt, Pierre-Henri Fabre, Henrique Batalha-Filho, Knud A.
Jønsson, Cees S. Roselaar, George Sangster, and Per G. P. Ericson
Proc. R. Soc. B May 22, 2013 280 20130309; doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.0309
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/280/1759/20130309.abstract.html<http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/280/1759/20130309.abstract.html?etoc>

(courtesy of Avian References)
 
From the abstract "Our study reconfirms the E. erythrogaster complex as a ‘great speciator’: it represents a complex of up to 17 allopatrically distributed, reciprocally monophyletic and/or morphologically diagnosable species"

Anyone with access - can't wait to read this o:)
 
Well caught, Des. :t: I usually check Proc R Soc B for relevant new papers (posted each Wednesday morning), but after the long holiday weekend I'd lost track of the fact that today is Wednesday! (Another) senior moment...

There's currently free access to the pdf.

"We propose that the E. erythrogaster complex is composed of 17 species..."

  1. Philippine Pitta - E erythrogaster (erythrogaster, propinqua/'thompsoni')
  2. Talaud Pitta - E inspeculata
  3. Sulu Pitta - E yairocho [where/when was this taxon described?]

  4. Sula Pitta - E dohertyi
  5. Siao Pitta - E palliceps
  6. Sangihe Pitta - E caeruleitorques
  7. Sulawesi Pitta - E celebensis

  8. Buru Pitta - E rubrinucha
  9. Seram Pitta - E piroensis

  10. Louisiade Pitta - E meeki

  11. Moluccan Pitta - E rufiventris (rufiventris/'obiensis', cyanonota, bernsteini)

  12. New Ireland Pitta - E novaehibernicae (novaehibernicae, extima)
  13. New Britain Pitta - E gazellae
  14. Tabar Pitta - E splendida

  15. Habenicht's Pitta - E habenichti

  16. D’Entrecasteaux Pitta - E. finschii
  17. Papuan Pitta - E. macklotii (macklotii/'aruensis'/'kuehni', loriae/'oblita', digglesi)
[Erritzoe 2003 (HBW 8) mentioned six possible splits.]
 
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Interesting paper, aim most familiar with the populations found in southern Maluku and New Guinea. Not yet been lucky enough to make it to Tabar (situated off northern New Ireland) but I have had some experience with the rest in the field, it is about time that at least some of them are elevated to species rank.

It is quite obvious that further work is needed to sort out the taxonomic positions of the populations found on the groups of small islands dotted around Sulawesi. The Sula Pitta was recently placed back as a subspecies of the Red-bellied Pitta whilst both the Siau and Sangihe Pitta would surely classify as Critically Endangered?
 
Richard Klim said:
[*]Sulu Pitta - E yairocho [where/when was this taxon described?]
Click to expand...

I think per http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/46281 yairocho was described (as P.e.yairocho) by Hachisuka, M. in 1935 'The Birds of the Philippine Island: with notes on the mammal fauna' (This title is reference # 17 of the new paper but not specifically tied to the yaichoro ref.)

P.e.yairocho was not included or even mentioned in the two 20th Century pitta monographs (Lambert and Woodcock, Erritzoe and Errizoe), nor in HBW Vol 8. This new paper notes on P2 that 'up to 28 subspecies are currently recognized', Lambert and Woodcock recognize 24 subspecies, Erritzoe and Erritzoe 26 (including ‘Sula Pitta’ dohertyi (which Lambert split) plus obiensis, HBW 23 subspecies (including ‘Sula Pitta’ dohertyi, but does not recognize thompsoni, kuehni).
 
Richard Klim said:
eg, Chris Gooddie? At least he saw (and photographed) four of the 17 proposed species.
Click to expand...

Hi Richard, yes you're right, theoretically there might be as many as 13 new pittas or me to go at! Hmm, perhaps it'd be a fun 'Jewel Hunter' sequel. Just don't suggest it to my wife ;)

However, as a non-scientist I'll be intrigued to see how this paper is received by the scientific establishment. If I have understood it correctly (not by any means a given...) it seems a decidedly radical piece of work with profound implications (not least for listers of all birds, not only pittas) if it gains wide acceptance! The authors themselves note 'Whether the species proposed herein are reproductively isolated is speculative' and further note that we need further 'insight into the behavioural, ecological and genetic mechanisms that prevent closely related parametric and sympatric species of pittas from fusing into a single population.' They summarise by saying: 'Such knowledge is currently lacking'.

Interestingly in terms of pitta populations being reproductively isolated the paper asserts that 'E. e. digglesi in north Australia is the only taxon within E. erythrogaster that migrates across water [18].' But Lambert and Woodcock note:
'Prescott (1973) collected a specimen of erythrogaster on a boat, anchored 3-6km offshore of Leyte, in Leyte Gulf on 4 July…other birds have been collected on boats…in Manila Bay, Luzon during November (Parkes 1973)'

which seems to suggest otherwise. There is no doubt in my mind that nominate P.e.erythrogaster Red-bellied Pittas are regular migrants, (000's of birds trapped using lanterns at mountain passes etc) though how regularly they cross water/in what numbers remains unknown. I seem to remember that when Elegant Pitta race P.e.vigorsii was split by the IOC (as 'Double-striped Pitta') there were similar suggestions that most/all Elegant Pittas were largely sedentary? That proved not to be the case (I've personally seen nominate P.e.elegans at Tangkoko in N Sulawesi, and there are plenty of other extralimital records/records of numbers of migrant P.e.elegans. (Subsequently vigorsii has been relegated again to a subspecies by the IOC and everyone else I think.)

Anyway, a fascinating, long-awaited paper which looks set to generate a lot of campfire (and forum) discussions over the coming years!
 
'Figure S3 Phylogeny and audio spectograms of representative songs of ... the 17 species in the Erythropitta erythrogaster complex, as proposed in the present study'
'All song recordings were from public databases (Xeno-Canto, AVOCET) or commercially available sound publications.'
However, there are only 33 foreground and 9 background recordings of 'Red-bellied' Pitta on xeno-canto, and 34 on Avocet, many of them the same recordings. The sonagrams are not referenced (that I could find), and must in many cases be based on only one or very few samples. How is that representative?
It is my observation that individuals can modify the basic pattern of the call, probably to imbue meaning to it.

'Note that songs among taxa in the E. erythrogaster complex are as diverse as or more diverse than those of several currently recognized species (e.g. E. granatina, E. arquata, E. venusta; and H. guajana, H. schwaneri, H. irena).'


Of 11 ssp erythrogaster specimens only 3 provided data from both the 2 nuclear genes quoted, and of 5 ssp yairocho only one did. This includes a ssp erythrogaster from Mindoro that appears to be as different from other ssp erythrogaster as are inspeculata, yairocho and propinqua.
Is this not significant?

Des
 
dnsallen said:
'Note that songs among taxa in the E. erythrogaster complex are as diverse as or more diverse than those of several currently recognized species (e.g. E. granatina, E. arquata, E. venusta; and H. guajana, H. schwaneri, H. irena).'
Click to expand...

Certainly true Des. But also, songs WITHIN individual RBP races/species are also complicated. P.e.dohertyi for example has a radically different song* (not call) as well as the usual well-known two-phrase 'asthmatic chicken' song. When I heard this alternative song and (eventually) recorded it on Peleng, Indonesia in late Aug 2009 I thought was hugely significant and unique to dohertyi. However once back in England Filip Verbelen put me straight, confirming that Red-bellied Pitta individuals on Talaud (and also perhaps on Taliabu?) share this radically different song. Clearly there is still a huge amount we don't know about P.erythrogaster vocalisations.

*A rather long, (4-5 secs) descending, melancholy, kingfisher-like call which in Aug '09 was the only vocalisation the birds gave when not responding to tape. When they responded with the more typical Red-bellied type call (consistently much abbreviated and rather higher-pitched than most races,) it was very short and reliably diagnosable from other Red-bellied taxa I have heard (but may be the same as Talaud/Taliabu/other island vocalisations?)
 
dnsallen said:
I can't find this as a thread yet...
The spatio-temporal colonization and diversification across the
Indo-Pacific by a ‘great speciator’ (Aves, *Erythropitta erythrogaster*)
Martin Irestedt, Pierre-Henri Fabre, Henrique Batalha-Filho, Knud A.
Jønsson, Cees S. Roselaar, George Sangster, and Per G. P. Ericson
Proc. R. Soc. B May 22, 2013 280 20130309; doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.0309
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/280/1759/20130309.abstract.html<http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/280/1759/20130309.abstract.html?etoc>

(courtesy of Avian References)
Click to expand...

TiF Update May 3:
Based on Irestedt et al. (2013), the Red-bellied Pitta, Erythropitta erythrogaster, has been split into Northern Red-bellied Pitta, Erythropitta erythrogaster, and Southern Red-bellied Pitta, Erythropitta macklotii.
 
Collar, del Hoyo & Jutglar 2015. The numer of species in the Red-bellied Pitta Erythropitta erythrogaster complex: a quantitive analysis of morphological characters. Forktail 31: 13–23.
 
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Richard Klim said:
Collar, del Hoyo & Jutglar 2015. The numer of species in the Red-bellied Pitta Erythropitta erythrogaster complex: a quantitive analysis of morphological characters. Forktail 31: 13–23.
Click to expand...

A lovely plate (updated version of HBW plate) of all "species" included with this issue, worth the price of joinging the OBC alone. The core of the paper is fairly heavy going, being a long series of "Tobias et al." assessments, scoring each taxon against (relevant) others. It's a pity that vocalizations, particularly of the more local species, are so poorly documented as those barely feature in the judgements reached.

The "lumping" of Buru and Seram Pittas here is probably correct - the birds on Seram certainly respond well to the recordings of the Buru bird; they are also similar in plumage although for some reason all plates seem to understate the appearance of the blue ear-coverts in both taxa, so striking in the field.

cheers, alan
 
Collar et al 2015

Richard Klim said:
Collar, del Hoyo & Jutglar 2015. The numer of species in the Red-bellied Pitta Erythropitta erythrogaster complex: a quantitive analysis of morphological characters. Forktail 31: 13–23.
Click to expand...
Suggested arrangement:
  1. Phillipine Pitta E erythrogaster (erythrogaster/'thompsoni'/'propinqua'/'yairocho')
  2. Talaud Pitta E inspeculata
  3. Sangihe Pitta E caeruleitorques
  4. Siao Pitta E palliceps
  5. Sulawesi Pitta E celebensis
  6. Sula Pitta E dohertyi
  7. North Moluccas Pitta E rufiventris (rufiventris/'obiensis'/'inornata', cyanonota, bernsteini)
  8. South Moluccas Pitta E rubrinucha (rubrinucha, piroensis)
  9. Papuan Pitta E macklotii (macklotii/'kuehni'/'aruensis'/'strenua', digglesi/'yorki', habenichti, oblita, loriae, finschii)
  10. Louisiade Pitta E meeki
  11. New Britain Pitta E gazellae
  12. Tabar Pitta E splendida
  13. New Ireland Pitta E novaehibernicae (novaehibernicae, extima)
Ref: Erritzoe 2003 (HBW 8).
 
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