Fairy pitta
| Fairy pitta | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Pittidae |
| Genus: | Pitta |
| Species: | P. nympha |
| Binomial name | |
|
Pitta nympha Temminck & Schlegel, 1850 |
|
The fairy pitta (Pitta nympha) is a small and brightly colored passerine bird that mainly feeds on earthworms, spiders, insects, slugs, and snails. It is also called “little forest angel” in Taiwan and “eight colored bird" in Japan, Taiwan, North Korea and South Korea. The fairy pitta breeds in East Asia and migrates south to winter in Southeast Asia. Due to various habitat and anthropogenic disruptions, such as deforestation, wildfire, hunting, trapping, and cage-bird trade, the fairy pitta is rare and the population is declining in most places. Listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix II, this bird is classified as vulnerable on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
The fairy pitta was first described as a member of the order Passeriformes and the family Pittidae in 1850. It was originally considered to be the same species as the Indian pitta (P. brachyura), native to India and Pakistan. However, due to differences in plumage, morphology, and vocalization, the fairy pitta was recognized as a separate species in 1996. In contemporary taxonomy, the fairy pitta forms a superspecies with the Indian pitta, mangrove pitta (P. megarhyncha) and blue-winged pitta (P. moluccensis). Among the 30 species of Pittidae worldwide, the fairy pitta is the most northerly and only species breeding in Northeast Asia.
...
Wikipedia