Indian Pitta Pitta brachyura Scientific name definitions

18 cm; 47–66 g. Adult has top of head dark buff with black central stripe, white supercilium , broad black band from lores to nape with conspicious white line beneath eye; upperparts dark green, rump blue, tail black with dull blue tip, large glossy blue patch on lesser wing-coverts; flight-feathers blackish, tipped pale, large white patch on primaries and white tips to inner secondaries; chin and throat whitish, rest of underparts golden buffish except for scarlet belly centre and undertail-coverts ; iris dark brown; bill black, feet pinkish. Sexes alike. Dusky stripes found on green and blue upperparts of 54% of 160 adults examined (both sexes). Differs from P. nympha in slightly smaller size, head pattern, darker underparts, less extensive red below. Juvenile is duller than adult, little or no pinkish on belly, orange bill with black near tip.

NE Pakistan (Margalla Hills) and in foothills of Himalayas from W Himachal Pradesh (Dharmsala, Kangra) E to C Nepal and perhaps Sikkim, and S to W & C India (from Gujarat to S West Bengal, S at least to Bombay); winters S to S India (S from Goa) and Sri Lanka.

Inhabits deciduous and evergreen forest with dense undergrowth in lowland and foothills, as well as scrub and bamboo jungle or sal (Shorea) forest; also found in dried-out riverbeds with grassy banks. Breeds in moist ravines and thick thorny bushes in Pakistan. Non-breeding visitors in Sri Lanka occur in thick forest and secondary jungle, and on initial arrival also often found in gardens or coffee plantations and even town parks. Present up to 1700 m in India, but only up to 1200 m during breeding; at 450–750 m in Pakistan; up to 1800 m, but mostly lower, in Sri Lanka.

Migratory ; spends non-breeding season in peninsular India (mostly S of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh) and Sri Lanka. Departure from breeding grounds from Aug, some not leaving until Oct (e.g. in Pakistan), with migrants recorded in Sept–Oct in C India, and reaching Sri Lanka mid-Oct; return starts Apr, arrival in N breeding areas mostly in late May. A juvenile female, presumably a vagrant, was collected in Nov 1968 in SW Iran (1 van Els, P. and Brady, M.L. (2014). Specimen of Indian Pitta Pitta brachyura from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 134(2): 160–162. Close ). Migrates at night, in small flocks.

Various insects, such as termites (Isoptera) and ants, insect larvae, also earthworms  , small snails, millipedes (Diplopoda); reported to take dipteran maggots from human excrement near villages, and seen to consume larvae of coffee beetle from manure. Young fed on orthopterans, especially mole-crickets (Gryllotalpidae), at one nest. Forages on ground in manner of a thrush (Turdidae), tossing aside leaves, digging with bill in wet soil. Maintains feeding territories in non-breeding areas.

Call a short double whistle, “wieet-pyou”, “whee-tiou” and similar, sometimes likened to the words “quite clear”, second note descending, the whole occasionally preceded by additional brief note, often accompanied by harsh notes, and repeated 3–4 times in 10 seconds for several minutes in breeding period; more rarely, single “wheeew”; also other harsher sounds, e.g. “chee”.

Breeds in rainy season, May–Aug, rarely Apr and Sept; Jul–Aug in Pakistan. Nest  c. 20 × 15 × 15 cm, shaped like a rugby football, with side entrance  , built of twigs  , bamboo leaves, grass, moss and fibrous roots, often lined with fine leaves, and placed 3–4 m, sometimes to 15 m, above ground in tree  , occasionally on ground. Clutch 4–6 eggs, usually 5, glossy china-white with fine red-brown and underlying grey-lilac spots, mostly at broad end, average c. 25 × 21 cm; both parents incubate and both feed chicks; in captivity, incubation period 17 days, fledging period 15 days, young independent 5 days later.

Not globally threatened. Fairly common to scarce, and local. Population in Pakistan (Margalla Hills) estimated to be 18–20 pairs in 1982. Fairly common but local In India; in N fairly common at Dehra Dun; was formerly common at several places, with large numbers recorded on passage in the peninsula, but obviously declined in 20th century. In Nepal, common summer visitor only in Chitwan National Park; local elsewhere, and rare at Sukla Phanta and Bardia. Rare in Bangladesh; recorded only at Modhupur Forest, where probably bred in 1989, but no other information. Status in NE Indian Subcontinent uncertain: has been said to occur in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam (where villagers claim to have caught migrants in S) and Manipur, but no documented records; further fieldwork required to determine this species’ true distribution. Fairly widespread in S India outside breeding season, with non-breeders present in at least four protected areas in Western Ghats; common winter visitor in Sri Lanka, where present in Yala, Bundala and Uda Walawe National Parks and in Sinharaja Forest Reserve. Although this pitta appears to be reasonably tolerant of human disturbance, clearing of forest for agriculture and urban development pose increasing problems in India, with its high human population. Moreover, large numbers of this species are caught while on migration, almost solely for food. The cagebird trade appears to be relatively insignificant; e.g. in 1986 only 70 birds were known to have been traded.