Great blue-winged pitta
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Great blue-winged pitta |
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| Pitta megarhyncha | ||||||||||||
| Schlegel , 1863 |
The great blue-winged pitta ( Pitta megarhyncha ), also known as the mangrove pitta , is a passerine bird belonging to the genus Pitta within the family of the Pittas (Pittidae). It occurs in Southeast Asia. No subspecies are distinguished.
The IUCN classifies the population of the great blue-winged pitta as near threatened .
description
The great blue-winged pitta reaches a length of 20 centimeters and a weight of 92 to 120 grams. The body shape is typical of species from the Pittas family. The legs are high and strong. The stump tail looks like it has been cut off. The beak is of medium length and pointed slightly downwards. The head is proportionally large to the body, but the neck is so short that the rainbow pitta has the squat shape typical of Pittas. The wings are short and rounded. They protrude just above the control springs .
In adult birds, the vertex is black, and above the eye there is a gray-brown stripe of different widths. In some individuals, this stripe can be completely absent. The reins, the sides of the face and the back neck are black. The shoulders and back are dull dark green, the torso is bright blue-violet. The elytra are bright blue, with individual feathers having a green tip. The hand and outer arm wings are black with blue-green edges. The tail is black with a blue-green tip. The chin and throat are whitish. The neck, chest and flanks are light cinnamon brown to reddish cinnamon brown. The middle of the abdomen, the rump and the under tail cover are bright red. The tail is black on the underside.
The females are colored similarly to the males, but their coloring is a little more dull.
The great blue-winged pitta has a long and pointed black beak. Their eyes are large with black-brown irises , and their feet are dark pink to pale flesh-colored.
Possible confusion
The large blue-winged pitta is very similar to the small blue-winged pitta . However, both occur in largely different distribution areas and colonize different habitats.
Distribution area and habitat
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The great blue-winged pitta occurs in the Sundarbans in the south of Bangladesh and bordering India disjoint over the west of Myanmar, the west of the Thai peninsula, the west of the Malay peninsula, Singapore, the east of Sumatra, the Riau Islands to Bangka .
The preferred habitat are mangroves. Some authors classify the great blue-winged pitta as an extreme mangrove specialist. But they also occur in coastal forests up to an altitude of 1000 meters. They are absent where the coastal area is very sandy.
Way of life
Unlike many other pittas, the blue-winged pitta can also be seen regularly sitting high up in the trees. She is also very happy to call during the morning and evening hours. It can also be heard at night, especially on moonlit nights.
It eats mollusks, ants and other insects. They look for their food exclusively on the ground and stay on mud banks surrounded by mangroves and on floodplains that have run dry.
The breeding season falls from April to August. The nest is vaulted and is usually built on the ground. The clutch size is four eggs. According to the current state of knowledge, both parent birds breed. The incubation period and nestling time are still unknown.
Position within the family
The blue-winged pitta forms together with the great blue-winged pitta a super species . It has long been classified as a subspecies of the great blue-winged pitta. However, it differs in physique, plumage and behavior and also occupies a different ecological niche. So far, no natural hybrids have been found between the two species where the two species overlap.
literature
- Johannes Erritzøe and Helga Erritzoe: Pittas of the World - A Monograph on the Pitta Family. The Lutterworth Press, Cambridge 1998, ISBN 0-7188-2961-1 .
Web links
Single receipts
- ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World on the Great Blue-winged Pitta , accessed on June 15, 2017
- ↑ Erritzoe & Erritzoe: "Pittas of the World". P. 146.
- ↑ Erritzoe & Erritzoe: "Pittas of the World". P. 146.
- ↑ Erritzoe & Erritzoe: "Pittas of the World". P. 147.
- ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World on Blauflügelpitta. accessed on June 15, 2017.