Splashes of crimson, chestnut, turquoise, and brilliant blue combine to produce a stunning display on a very shy bird forest foraging bird.

Meet the Hooded Pitta

The hooded pitta (Pitta sordida), is a passerine bird in the Pittidae family. This bird’s head is topped with a chestnut crown atop a body covered in emerald green with pale blue patches on its shoulders. The belly bares a vivid crimson streak and rump which ends near this bird’s short tail. They have longish legs with equally long feet.

Females are also a brilliant green though they tend to be slightly duller than the males.

They also have the same slightly down-curved bill as the male with less white in the wing.

This Asian species is found from southern China and northern India down into Indonesia and Papua-New Guinea.

A shy bird, they tend to forage amongst the forest litter eating adult and larval insects such as beetles, termites, ants, cockroaches, earthworms, snails, and berries.

Hooded pittas breed between February and August, building a nest on the ground consisting of a dome-shaped structure, made mostly of roots, bamboo leaves, rootlets, moss, and twigs, which they line with softer material. The female will lay 3-4 eggs which are incubated by both sexes for around 15-16 days. The chicks are then fed by both parents until fully-fledged at 16 days of age.

Due to its large breeding range, this species is considered not currently under threat. Though, please bear in mind there has been a rapid decline in population due to habitat destruction, and collection for the cage bird trade.

Photo Courtesy of fveronesi1 / CC BY-SA 2.0

Watch this bird right here in the video below: