Rainbow Pitta

An Australian endemic, the Rainbow Pitta lives in the forests of northern Australia. As with other pittas, 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 domed nest.

Picture of the Rainbow Pitta has been licensed under a GFDL
Original source: http://ausbirds.tripod.com/frames.html
Author: Leo UdBPermission(Reusing this file)I made this image myself on 10/6/2001 in Kakadu NP Australia. Use of the image is allowed by anyone under the condition that its source (http://ausbirds.tripod.com) is mentioned.
Permission: GNU Free Documentation License

The Rainbow Pitta is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

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 Australian endemic, the Rainbow Pitta lives in the forests of northern Australia. As with other pittas, it is a secretive and shy bird. More

Perhaps the rainbow pitta has found its colours and has decided to venture from the depths of the forest to the depths of the world outside the forest. Shall we see? Posted by Darryl at 7:08 AM 0 comments Tuesday, June 26, 2007 - Spiritual Rest In this blog as in my others Ihave been quieter and quieter. Perhaps this will continue. More

* How many rainbow pittas left in the world? * What are pitta wraps? * Where do pittas come from? * What is waldorf pitta? * Is pitta bread healthy? » More Mentioned in * Pittas (Pittidae) (zoology) * Rainbow Pitta * Pitta (bird) * Endemic birds of Australia More

Rainbow Pitta is endemic to Australia. Adult male has bright green upperparts and rump. Sides of mantle can often show iridescent golden gloss, and we can see sometimes a slight blue tinge, giving paler aspect than usual. Tail is olive-green. Upper wings show bright glossy blue shoulder patch. Underparts are mainly black, except on lower flanks and vent which are chestnut. Under wings are black. Undertail coverts are reddish-pink. Head, chin and throat are black, forming a kind of hood. More

Rainbow Pittas live in rainforest, mangrove and eucalyptus forest. Their distribution is little pockets in vine forests in coastal Arnhem Lands, NT and northwestern Kimberleys, WA. Also Melville Island and Groote Eylandt. Diet They forage unobtrusively in the leaf litter of the forest floor hopping along, pausing to poke with the bill and to snatch and break open hard-shelled prey. Land snails, worms and ground-living insects are their staple diet. More

this image on a tee-shirt just click the Rainbow Pitta icon for info: pittasworld.com: © Birdtour Asia, painted by Eustace Barnes pittasworld.com: A stunning depiction of Noisy Pitta by Jeff Davies. You can find more of Jeff’s work at www.jeffdavies.com.au pittasworld.com: Here’s a subtle watercolour trio from Peter Elfman, (Mangrove, Garnet and Banded Pitta (race irena)) painted during a trip to Malaysia in 2003. You can find more of Peter’s art at http://goto.glocalnet.net/peterelfman/index. More

Locally common throughout its limited range, the Rainbow Pitta is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. References - * BirdLife International (2004). Pitta iris. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 30 October 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. More

Last night the Rainbow Pitta's rainbow waistcoat had another outing, at a dinner dance in our little village. This event was the unlikely venue for an approach by someone, a "straight" man, who I had only met yesterday afternoon to tell me of a homosexual relationship he had had decades earlier. The unlikeliness was in the newness of our meeting and in the intensity of the story of a relationship that ended very tragically. More

* Rainbow Pitta, Pitta iris References - 1. ^ a b McClure, H. Elliott (1991). Forshaw, Joseph. ed. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 159–160. ISBN 1-85391-186-0. 2. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Gurney's Pitta Pitta gurneyi". IUCN Red List. IUCN. http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=4003&m=0. Retrieved 7 May 2009. More

The Rainbow Pitta is normally a very shy bird. During the dry season they are almost invisible in the monsoon forest thickets of the Northern Territory's Top End. With the first rise of humidity at the onset of the monsoon season they become very active. Rainbow Pitta The monsoon forest comes alive with male Rainbow Pitta's calling loudly, proclaiming their territories. Now they can be relatively easily seen hopping about on the forest floor. More

by the rainbow pitta is often constructed of mammal dung. Clutch size varies from two to six eggs; most species lay three to four eggs. The incubation period lasts 14–16 days. For most species that have been observed, both the male and female share the task of incubation. The eggs apparently hatch asynchronously. The altricial young hatch naked, blind, and with limited mobility. The male and female share the tasks of brooding and feeding the young. More

The Rainbow Pitta is endemic to northwestern Australia and is the closest relative to the Noisy Pitta. They are beautifully coloured small birds that stand about 15 centimetres tall and 'hop' about the forest floor. There is not a whole lot known about these shy little birds. Fact about Pittas Pittas are brightly-coloured, long-legged and short-tailed ground birds found in rainforests. More

is typical of members of the Pitta family, the Rainbow Pitta has a shy, retiring manner and prefers to live in more isolated areas of the continent such as the rain forests, the coastal bamboo thickets, or among the mangrove forests and shrubbery. Members of this species spend most of their time on or near the ground where they find the insects and snails that make up their diet. With plump bodies and large heads, they often depend on protective coloration to hide them. More

Rainbow Pitta 3 Pitta iris Rainbow Pitta 3 Pitta iris Enquire About this Image Image More

Rainbow Pitta Pitta iris 2009 IUCN Red List Category (as evaluated by BirdLife International - the official Red List Authority for birds for IUCN): Least Concern Justification This species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence 30% decline over ten years or three generations). More

Rainbow Pitta, Northern territories, Australia, Darwin 5 July 2004 © jon hornbuckle taken at 10X with my small Canon S1 IS Send this as a postcard Rainbow Pitta - Rainbow Pitta, Australia, Darwin July 2006 © Joe Cockram Rainbow Pitta - Rainbow Pitta, NT, AUS, Howard Springs Dec 08 © Ross Gallardy I watched this bugger build a nest for over an hour. More

Stamps showing Rainbow Pitta Pitta iris Rainbow Pitta Pitta iris 109.013 Rainbow Pitta IOC v2.4: 4224 Links will open countrypage in new window - Australia 01.07. More

Picture of Pitta iris above has been licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike.
Original source: Leo UdB
Author: Leo UdB
Permission: Some rights reserved
Order : Passeriformes
Family : Pittidae
Genus : Pitta
Species : iris
Authority : Gould, 1842