Alternative name: Fulvous Pitta
- Hydrornis oatesi
Identification
23 - 25cm.
- Rufous crown and nape
- Paler side of head with blackish postocular stripe
- Dark green upperparts and tail, often with blue wash (especially on rump)
- Dark olive-brown wings
- Rufous underparts, sometimes with broken blackish breastband
Females have often a finely black egded crown and less green upperparts with a rufous wash.
Juveniles are dark brown, have whitish streaks on cronw and nape and large whitish spots on upperparts and breasts.
Distribution
From south China (southern Yunnan) to Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and central peninsular Malaysia.
Uncommon to fairly common in its range.
Taxonomy
Four subspecies recognized:
- H. o. oatesi in Burma, northeast Laos and Thailand
- H. o. castaneiceps in southern China (Yunnan), northwest Vietnam and central Laos
- H. o. bolovenensis in southern Laos and southern Vietnam
- H. o. deborah in central peninsular Malaysia
Formerly placed in genus Pitta.
Habitat
Moist lowland forests and montanes. Prefers ravines and gulleys, also in limestone hill. Occurs from 380m up to 2600m, higher than Blue-naped Pitta and Blue-rumped Pitta.
Behaviour
A very shy and secretive bird, easily overlooked.
Feeds on insects, grubs, slugs, small snails and worms. Forages by turning over dead leaves on the ground with its bill.
Main breeding season from February to May. The domed nest with a side entrance is made of dead and skeletonized leaves, twigs and stems of ferns and rootlets. It's placed around 3m above the ground in a palm. Lays 2 - 5 eggs.
Probably a resident species.
References
- 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
- 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. (2025) Rusty-naped Pitta. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Rusty-naped_Pitta
