Green-breasted pitta

The green-breasted pitta (Pitta reichenowi) is a species of bird in the family Pittidae. It is one of only two Pitta species in Africa, and is found in deep forest of the tropics.

Green-breasted pitta

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pittidae
Genus: Pitta
Species:
P. reichenowi
Binomial name
Pitta reichenowi
Madarász, 1901

Description
An incubating bird in its domed nest, Uganda

The plumage is very similar to that of the African pitta,[2] but the breast is green and the throat is bordered by a black line. Immatures have duller, darker plumage, and a brownish olive breast.[2]

Range

It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, DRC, Gabon, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. In Uganda however, it occurs at altitudes between 1,100 and 1,400 metres.[2]

Specimen from Beni-Mawambi, northeastern DRC, in the Vienna Natural History Museum (illustration by Max Jaffé)

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Pitta reichenowi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Terry Stevenson; John Fanshawe (2004). Birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi. Helm Field Guides. p. 278. ISBN 0713673478.


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