Rainbow Pitta
Encyclopedia
The Rainbow Pitta, Pitta iris, is a bird with a velvet black head and underparts, green upperparts, pale blue shoulder and olive green tail. It has a black bill
, pink legs, brown eye and reddish brown streak along each side of its crown. Both sexes are similar, with the female being slightly smaller and duller than the male.
An Australia
n endemic
, the Rainbow Pitta lives in the forests of northern Australia. As with other pitta
s, it is a secretive and shy bird. The diet consists mainly of insects, arthropods and small animals. The female lays three to four glossy cream eggs with blotches inside its large dome
d nest.
Locally common throughout its limited range, the Rainbow Pitta is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species.
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
, pink legs, brown eye and reddish brown streak along each side of its crown. Both sexes are similar, with the female being slightly smaller and duller than the male.
An Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n endemic
Endemism in birds
An endemic bird area is a region of the world that contains two or more restricted-range species, while a "secondary area" contains one or more restricted-range species. Both terms were devised by Birdlife International....
, the Rainbow Pitta lives in the forests of northern Australia. As with other pitta
Pitta (bird)
Pittas are a family, Pittidae, of passerine birds mainly found in tropical Asia and Australasia, although a couple of species live in Africa. Pittas are all similar in general structure and habits, and have often been placed in a single genus, although as of 2009 they are now split into three...
s, it is a secretive and shy bird. The diet consists mainly of insects, arthropods and small animals. The female lays three to four glossy cream eggs with blotches inside its large dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
d nest.
Locally common throughout its limited range, the Rainbow Pitta is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
of Threatened Species.
External links
- BirdLife Species Factsheet
- IUCN Red List
- http://ausbirds.tripod.com Many Australian bird pictures and calls