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| Thai Wildlife > Rare or Extinct |
Gurney's Pitta
Species: Pitta gurneyi (Hume, 1875)
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pittidae
Common names: Gurney's Pitta; Black-breasted Pitta
The birds in this family are numerous. They are differentiated from one another by their calls. In this case it is "tao lao".
The male tao lao bird has a dark blue coloring with markings of light blue on the head down to the chin. The light blue markings are very distinct against the black forehead. The side coloring on the wings are yellow crossed by short black markings. The tail and the feathers covering the tail are a greenish blue while the center tail feather is plain black. The legs are pink and the beak is black. The female bird head to the chin is yellow. The center of the head, eyes, extending to the ears are black. The neck is a light cream color. The lower part of the body is yellowish white with short black markings running across the body. The tail, wing, and other body colors are like that of the male bird except that the female is a bit smaller.
The gurney's pitta has a length of roughly 22 centimeters. It is a small round bird with a big head. The gurney's pitta has strong legs with a short tail. They usually jump around the forest floor and sing during feeding.
There are many local names for the gurney's pitta. It is found in very limited areas in the south of Burma in the Tanaosri mountains. In Thailand they are found from Prachuab Khirikan to Trang.
The gurney's pitta is found close to the forest floor where they feed. The gurney's pitta does not live in groups and usually nest on trees that have sharp thorns.
Nests are built about 1-2.5 meters above the forest floor and are small and round much like a ball with only one entrance. About three to four cream colored eggs with brown markings are laid at a time, mating from February to July.
The gurney's pitta eat small earthworms, insect larvae, insects, snails, frogs, and termite.
The cute character of the bird is their habit of singing as they hop along the forest floor. It sings to find a mate, announce their territory or out of fear. The morning and evening call will announce their territory and to find a mate is a "wak wak" sound. When they are frightened they will make a "tao tao" sound.
Because of its rarity and specific habitat, the gurney's pitta is a very expensive bird. As their limited habitat is destroyed by the construction of roads and dams extinction is threatened. Today these birds can be found in the forest reserve of Kao Phra-Bang Kram in Krabi and Trang.
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