Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
THE FREE-TOED PERCHING BIRDS
THE PITTAS
Pittas Distribution and Habitat
Of the five genera now recognized the first to be considered {Anihocichla) is characterized by a rather long, compressed bill, and by the feathers on the sides of the nape being long, pointed, and forming conspicuous aigrettes. The single species, known as Phayre's Pitta (A. phayrei), is found in Tenasserim and the Karen Hills, and is a quietly handsome bird about nine inches in length with the plumage mainly clear brown throughout, with a broad black band over the center of the head and down the nape, while the middle of the throat is white and the sides and flanks marked with black spots. The female is similar, but lacks the black on the head and nape, and is more spotted below. This appears to be a very rare bird, and little is known of its habits beyond the fact that it frequents moderately thin tree jungle, and builds the typical domed nest on the ground at the foot of a tree. The eggs, four in number, are glossy white, spotted with purplish black mainly at the larger end.
A group of four species of large size, separated from the true Pittas under the name of Hydrornis, have the predominant color of the plumage brown and the sexes similar. Of these perhaps the best-known is the Blue-naped Pitta (H. nipaknsis) of the eastern Himalayas and Burma. It is a bird about ten inches long and, in addition to the prevailing brown color, has the hinder part of the head and the nape blue. Closely allied is the Fulvous Pitta (H. oatesi) of Burma and Tenasserim, which has the nape deep brown. According to Mr. Oates both these species frequent the dark gloomy ravines of the evergreen forests,—spots where the sun seldom penetrates except at midday, and where the vegetation is extremely dense and the ground constantly damp. They feed on worms and large insects, and seldom leave the ground except to mount on a fallen trunk or low branch. They build the usual covered nest of grass and leaves on the ground or in a tangled mass of branches of trees a short distance above the ground.