Indian Pitta

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Indian Pitta

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pittidae
Genus:	Pitta
Species:	P. brachyura

Binomial name

Pitta brachyura
(Linnaeus, 1766)

The Indian Pitta, Pitta brachyura, is a medium-sized passerine bird. It breeds in the Himalayas and northeastern India and winters in southern India and Sri Lanka. It is a stocky terrestrial bird which mostly inhabits wet forest floors. It has long, strong legs, a very short tail and stout bill, with a buff colored crown, a thick black eye stripe and white throat and neck. The upperparts are green, with a blue tail, the underparts buff, with bright red on the lower belly. The legs are buff.

Its diet consists of snails, insects and similar invertebrate prey. It lays up to six eggs in a large spherical nest in a tree or shrub. Differences between the sexes are few, but young birds are duller than the adult. Despite its bright colours, this species can be very difficult to see, as it forages low in the dense forest habitat. It is much readily heard, and has a distinctive two-note wolf-whistle.