Blue-banded Pitta
Erythropitta arquata
Unique-looking pitta of hill and submontane forests. Note bright red underparts, dull tan-orange face, dull blue-green back, and glittering silver-blue “necklace” and secondaries (similarly-colored line trailing down from behind the eye can be visible if seen well). Favors patches of forest with some disturbance, especially bamboo groves and fallen trees. Shy and elusive. Gives a whistle with a clipped ending; higher and more “fluty” than that of Black-crowned Pitta, and lacks the rising quality of that species’ and Garnet Pitta’s whistles.
Identification
The blue-banded pitta (Erythropitta arquata) is a species of bird in the family Pittidae. It is native to lowlands of the Borneo montane rain forests.
Taxonomy
Genus: Erythropitta; Family: Pittidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Erythropitta arquata
- Authority
- (Gould, 1871)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Pittidae
- Genus
- Erythropitta
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Fairly large and strikingly-plumaged woodpecker with a yellow-crested head contrasting with a largely black body which is variably scaled with yellow spots depending on the subspecies, and a yellow rump. Males have a red moustache. Found in both wet and dry forests, usually avoiding the interior, and in wooded savannas.
Campbell's Fairywren
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A small, little-known bird limited to lowland and foothill treefall gap regrowth in southwestern Papua New Guinea. Underparts and long, thick eyebrow pale blue. Back, wings and tail, brown. Prominent black eye-stripe, mustache stripe and crown stripe. Forages in pairs or small groups in dense undergrowth with rattans or sago. Does not co-occur with the similar Broad-billed Fairywren. Voice a reeling song of high-pitched notes.
Malabar Woodshrike
Tephrodornis sylvicola
Large, dark woodshrike with ashy gray upperparts and darker gray wing panel and tail with a variable brownish tinge. A prominent black face mask surrounds the pale yellow iris. Underparts are white. Lacks the pale supercilium of the Common Woodshrike. Malabar Woodshrike typically inhabits tropical and subtropical lowland forests, both humid and dry, as well as clearings in evergreen forests. It is endemic to the Western Ghats region. This bird has a loud ringing call: “twee-tu, twee-tu, twee-tu.”
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