Superb pitta

Pitta superba

TAXONOMY

Pitta superba Rothschild and Hartert, 1914, Manus Island, Admiralty Islands.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Black-backed pitta; French: Brève superbe; German: Mohrenpitta; Spanish: Pita Soberbia.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

8.5 in (21–22 cm); c. 3.5–4.6 oz (100–130 g). Black head, wings, upperparts, and underparts to chest. Red under abdomen and tail; white bands on wings.

DISTRIBUTION

Island of Manus, Admiralty Islands.

HABITAT

Forested and wooded habitats, including primary forest, secondary forest, bamboo, and scrub.

BEHAVIOR

Poorly known, but assumed to be similar to other pittas. Terrestrial and secretive, occurring alone or in pairs. Territorial, responds to playback of its call.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Reported to feed on snails and smash them on stone "anvils."

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Probably breeds year round, as do other forest birds of Manus. Single nest was dome-shaped; constructed from roots, leaves (including bamboo), and twigs; and contained two eggs. Eggs white with purplish gray and purplish brown spots, more numerous on the widest end.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Because this species is restricted to the island of Manus, the total population size is very small and the species is considered Vulnerable.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.

Superb Pitta
Conservation status
Vulnerable
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Pittidae Genus: Pitta Species: P. superba
Binomial name
Pitta superba Rothschild & Hartert, 1914

The Superb Pitta, Pitta superba is a large pitta, approximately 22cm long. It has a black plumage with turquoise blue wing, scarlet belly and green-tipped secondaries. Both sexes are almost similar. The female is a slightly smaller and duller than the male.

The Superb Pitta is distributed and endemic to primary and secondary forests of the Manus Island of Papua New Guinea. As with other pittas, it is a secretive and rarely seen terrestrial bird. The diet consists mainly of snails.

Due to ongoing habitat loss, limited range and small population size, the Superb Pitta is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Pitta superba. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 6 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable

External links

• BirdLife Species Factsheet
• IUCN Red List

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)