Pitta (genus)
Pitta | |
---|---|
Noisy pitta in Australia | |
Call of blue-winged pitta | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Pittidae |
Genus: | Pitta Vieillot, 1816 |
Type species | |
Corvus brachyurus[1] Linnaeus, 1766
| |
Species | |
See text. |
Pitta is a genus of birds in the Pittidae, or pitta family. They are secretive, brightly coloured birds that forage on the forest floor. They are long-legged and short-tailed with rounded wings.[2] They all have green on their upperparts with blue wing-patches. Many have dark heads.[3] Nest construction, incubation and rearing of nestlings is performed by both parents.[4] Incubation is completed in some 17 days, and the nestlings are altricial and nidicolous.[4] Some species are migratory.[3]
The antpittas, a Neotropical bird family of some 50 species, resemble the pittas in their hopping gait, furtive behaviour, long legs and short tails.
Taxonomy
[edit]The genus Pitta was erected by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816.[5] In 1855 the English ornithologist George Robert Gray designated the type species as Corvus triostegus Sparrman. This is a junior synonym of Corvus brachyura Linnaeus, the Indian pitta.[6][7] The word Pitta is from the Telugu language and means "pretty", "bauble" or "pet".[8]
The genus contains 20 species, distributed from Africa, through southern, eastern and south-eastern Asia, to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Australia.[9] It was formerly the sole genus in the family and contained 31 species.[2] However, following a 2006 study, some of the species were split off into two resurrected genera, Erythropitta and Hydrornis, though all members of the family continue to be known as "pittas".[3]
Species
[edit]The genus contains 20 species:[9]
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
Pitta angolensis | African pitta | tropical and subtropical Africa | |
Pitta reichenowi | Green-breasted pitta | tropical Africa | |
Pitta brachyura | Indian pitta | Indian subcontinent | |
Pitta moluccensis | Blue-winged pitta | Australia and Southeast Asia | |
Pitta megarhyncha | Mangrove pitta | eastern India to western Southeast Asia | |
Pitta sordida | Western hooded pitta | mainland and maritime Southeast Asia | |
Pitta abbotti | Nicobar hooded pitta | Nicobar Islands | |
Pitta forsteni | Minahasa hooded pitta | north Sulawesi | |
Pitta novaeguineae | Eastern hooded pitta | New Guinea | |
Pitta rosenbergii | Biak hooded pitta | Biak (Cenderawasih Bay islands, northwest New Guinea) | |
Pitta nympha | Fairy pitta | East Asia | |
Pitta versicolor | Noisy pitta | eastern Australia and southern New Guinea | |
Pitta maxima | Ivory-breasted pitta | North Maluku | |
Pitta concinna | Ornate pitta | Lesser Sunda Islands | |
Pitta elegans | Elegant pitta | Lesser Sunda Islands | |
Pitta vigorsii | Banda Sea pitta | Maluku Islands | |
Pitta anerythra | Black-faced pitta | western Melanesia | |
Pitta steerii | Azure-breasted pitta | Philippines | |
Pitta superba | Superb pitta | Manus Island (north of Papua New Guinea) | |
Pitta iris | Rainbow pitta | northern Australia |
References
[edit]- ^ "Pittidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
- ^ a b Zimmerman, Dale A.; et al. (1999). Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania. Princeton University Press. p. 495. ISBN 0691010226.
- ^ a b c Irestedt, M.; Ohlson, J.I.; Zuccon, D.; Källersjö, M.; Ericson, P.G.P. (2006). "Nuclear DNA from old collections of avian study skins reveals the evolutionary history of the Old World suboscines (Aves: Passeriformes)" (PDF). Zoologica Scripta. 35 (6): 567–580. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2006.00249.x. S2CID 84788609.
- ^ a b Tarboton, Warwick (2001). A Guide to the Nests and Eggs of Southern African Birds. Cape Town: Struik. p. 141. ISBN 1-86872-616-9.
- ^ Vieillot, Louis Pierre (1816). Analyse d'une Nouvelle Ornithologie Élémentaire (in French). Paris: Deterville/self. p. 42, Num. 137.
- ^ Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the genera and subgenera of birds contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 43.
- ^ Traylor, Melvin A. Jr, ed. (1979). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 8. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 310.
- ^ Jobling, J.A. (2019). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (December 2023). "NZ wrens, broadbills & pittas". IOC World Bird List Version 14.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 10 January 2024.