A bright, iridescent red belly emerges from a bird wearing a very distinctive snow-white vest!
Meet the ivory-breasted pita
The ivory-breasted pitta (Pitta maxima) is a plump, largely terrestrial, relatively large, long-legged forest bird, sporting a striking and very distinctive red spot on the underside of its belly. What makes this red spot stand out is that it is surrounded by white that extends from the underside of the throat and chest to the flanks. The top is black with silver-blue patches on the shoulders, with a similar color bordering the top of the red patch.
Juvenile birds are somewhat dull compared to their adult counterparts, with beige underparts.
Very vocal, these birds can frequently be heard singing with a mournful wolf whistle.
“Ivory-breasted Pitta – Pitta maxima” by billbacon1968 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
The ivory-breasted pitta is endemic to northern Maluku in Indonesia.
Its natural habitat is tropical or subtropical moist lowland forested regions.
Screenshot via Youtube/Sultan Birding Tours
Shy birds, they are more often heard than seen. Little is known about their diet, although it is likely that they forage for worms and caterpillars in the soil.
The ivory-breasted pitta’s rarely seen reproductive behavior is not well studied, but nests containing individual eggs have been observed from May to July.
The Ivory-breasted Pitta is classified as being of least concern. Does not qualify for a higher risk category. This category includes widespread and abundant taxa.
Screenshot via Youtube/Amazing Planet!
You can see this bird right here in the video below:
