Range of Eared Pitta Hydrornis phayrei extends to Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. HABITAT & BEHAVIOR Forests, where forages for grubs and worms in leaf litter. ID Unmistakable. Long, broad, spotted eyebrows buff before eye and white behind and protrude behind head like horns; female’s shorter. Male has black coronal stripe, head sides, nape and malar; throat whitish. Otherwise brown above, buffy below, with black spotting or scaling. Whitish patch on primaries seen in flight. Female duller; black on head mostly replaced by brown and smaller white spots; body less rusty, with heavier scaling on underparts. Juveniles duller than females. BARE PARTS Bill black; feet pink. VOICE Enigmatic, full-throated two-note whistle, first note sliding up to second. Song usually repeated at long intervals. — Craig Brelsford
THE PITTAS OF CHINA
shanghaibirding.com covers all species in China in the family Pittidae. Click any link:
Eared Pitta Hydrornis phayrei
Rusty-naped Pitta H. oatesi
Blue-naped Pitta H. nipalensis
Blue-rumped Pitta H. soror
Blue Pitta H. cyaneus
Blue-winged Pitta Pitta moluccensis
Hooded Pitta P. sordida
Fairy Pitta P. nympha
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Daniel Bengtsson served as chief ornithological consultant for Craig Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, from which this species description is drawn.
