Indian Pitta

Photo by firecrest15
Hibiscus Garden hotel, Tissamaharama, Sri Lanka, March 2010

Alternative names: Bengal Pitta; Blue-winged Pitta; Green-winged Pitta

Pitta brachyura

Identification

18cm.

• Buff crown
• Thick black eye stripe
• White throat and neck
• Green upperparts
• Blue rump, black tail with blue tip
• Large glossy blue patch on lesser wing-coverts
• Buff underparts with bright red on lower belly
• Buff legs

Sexes are similar, but young birds are duller than the adult.

Similar species

Differs from similar Fairy Pitta in smaller size, head pattern, darker underparts and less extensive red below.

Distribution

Breeds in northeast Pakistan, in the foothills of the Himalayas of India, Nepal and Bhutan and in north and central India. Has probably bred in Bangladesh.
Winters in southern India and Sri Lanka.
Locally fairly common.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[1].
It forms a superspecies with Fairy Pitta, Blue-winged Pitta and Elegant Pitta and has been considered conspecific with the first two.

Habitat

Found in dense undergrowth of deciduous and evergreen forest, in scrub, bamboo jungle or sal forest. Recorded up to 1700m in India.

Behaviour

Feeds on insects, larvae, earthworms, small snails and millipedes.
Forages on the gorund, tossing aside leaves and digging with its bill in the wet soil.
Breeding season from May to August. The nest is shaped like a rugby football and made of twigs, bamboo leaves, grass, moss and roots. It's placed 3-4m (sometimes more) above the ground in a tree, sometimes also on the ground. Lays 4-6 eggs.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
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. 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) Indian Pitta. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Indian_Pitta

External Links

Search for photos of Indian Pitta in the gallery