Mangrove Pitta
Encyclopedia
The Mangrove Pitta is a species of passerine
bird
in the Pittidae family native to Southeast Asia
. It is part of a superspecies but has no recognized subspecies.
in 1863. Its species name is derived from the Ancient Greek
words mega- "large", and rhynchos "beak". It forms a superspecies
with the Indian Pitta
(P. brachyura), Fairy Pitta
(P. nympha) and Blue-winged Pitta
(P. moluccensis). Alternate common names include: Larger Blue-winged/Malay Pitta, Brève des palétuviers (in French), Große Blauflügelpitta (in German), and Pita de Manglar (in Spanish). There are no recognized subspecies.
, India
, Indonesia
, Malaysia, Myanmar
, Singapore
, and Thailand
(primarily the west coast of the southern Thai peninsula). Its natural habitat
is specialised and restriction to subtropical or tropical mangrove
forest
s and Nipa palm
stands. It is threatened by habitat loss. Its diet consists of crustacean
s, mollusks and terrestrial insects.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the Pittidae family native to Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. It is part of a superspecies but has no recognized subspecies.
Taxonomy
The Mangrove Pitta was first described by German ornithologist Hermann SchlegelHermann Schlegel
Hermann Schlegel was a German ornithologist and herpetologist.-Early life and education:Schlegel was born at Altenburg, the son of a brassfounder. His father collected butterflies, which stimulated Schlegel's interest in natural history...
in 1863. Its species name is derived from the Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
words mega- "large", and rhynchos "beak". It forms a superspecies
Superspecies
A superspecies is a group of at least two more or less distinctive species with approximately parapatric distributions. Not all species complexes, whether cryptices or ring species are superspecies, and vice versa, but many are...
with the Indian Pitta
Indian Pitta
The Indian Pitta is a medium-sized passerine bird. It breeds mainly in the sub-Himalayas and winters in southern India and Sri Lanka. These birds are found in thick undergrowth and are often more easily detected by their calls...
(P. brachyura), Fairy Pitta
Fairy Pitta
The Fairy Pitta, Pitta nympha, is a small passerine bird. It breeds in north-east Asia in Japan, South Korea, mainland China and Taiwan, migrant in Thailand and winters mainly on the island of Borneo in east Malaysia, Brunei, and Kalimantan in Indonesia....
(P. nympha) and Blue-winged Pitta
Blue-winged Pitta
The Blue-winged Pitta is a passerine bird in the Pittidae family native to Australia and Southeast Asia. It forms a superspecies with three other pittas and has no subspecies.-Taxonomy:...
(P. moluccensis). Alternate common names include: Larger Blue-winged/Malay Pitta, Brève des palétuviers (in French), Große Blauflügelpitta (in German), and Pita de Manglar (in Spanish). There are no recognized subspecies.
Description
Measuring 180 to 210 mm (7.1 to 8.3 in) in length, the Mangrove Pitta has a black head with a buff-coloured crown, white chin and buff underparts. The shoulders and mantle are greenish and the vent is reddish. Juveniles have similar patterned plumage but are duller. It resembles the Blue-winged Pitta but can be distinguished by its much heavier bill. Its call, transcribed as wieuw-wieuw has been noted to be "more slurred" than the Blue-winged Pitta.Distribution and habitat
The Mangrove Pitta is native to the Southeast Asian countries of: BangladeshBangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Malaysia, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
(primarily the west coast of the southern Thai peninsula). Its natural habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
is specialised and restriction to subtropical or tropical mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s and Nipa palm
Nypa fruticans
Nypa fruticans, known as the attap palm , nipa palm , and mangrove palm or buah atap , buah nipah , dừa nước , Ging Pol in Sinhala in Sri Lanka and gol pata , dani . It is the only palm considered a mangrove in the Mangroves Biome...
stands. It is threatened by habitat loss. Its diet consists of crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, mollusks and terrestrial insects.