Louisiade Pitta

Erythropitta meeki

A very shy, and seldom seen ground bird of lowland and foothill rainforest. Bright red belly and blue chest separated by a black band. Brown-hooded appearance but darker in the throat. Blue wing and green back. No similar species in range. Vocalizations not well-known, but probably quite similar to Papuan Pitta.

Identification

The Louisiade pitta (Erythropitta meeki) is a species of the pitta. It was considered a subspecies of the red-bellied pitta. It is endemic to Rossel Island in the Louisiade Archipelago in Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It may be threatened by habitat loss, but is currently listed by the IUCN as Data Deficient as there have been no definite records since the type specimen was collected in 1898. However an expedition to the island in 2014 revealed that local people said they still encountered it. In 2022, British tourist Michael Smith found two alive individuals with clear photograph evidence.

Taxonomy

Genus: Erythropitta; Family: Pittidae; Order: Passeriformes.

Scientific name
Erythropitta meeki
Authority
(Rothschild, 1898)
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

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