Erythropitta Explained

thumb|right|250px|Black-crowned pitta (E. ussheri) uttering whistles from a perch in Danum Valley, SabahErythropitta is a genus of pitta. The members of the genus are found mostly in South-east Asia, with one species, the Papuan pitta, ranging into northeast Australia. The genus was formerly merged with the large genus Pitta, but a 2006 study split the family into three genera.

Taxonomy

The pittas were at one time all usually placed in the genus Pitta, the only genus in the family Pittidae, but when a 2006 molecular phylogenetic study found that the pittas formed three separate groups, the genus was split and some species were moved into two resurrected genera, Erythropitta and Hydrornis.^[1] The genus Erythropitta had been introduced in 1854 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte.^[2] The type species was subsequently designated as the Papuan pitta (Erythropitta macklotii).^[3] The name Erythropitta combines the Ancient Greek word eruthros "red" with the genus name Pitta.^[4]

Pittas in this genus have red or crimson coloured underparts, greenish or blueish backs and short tails. They are mostly small in size.^[1]

Species

The genus contains the following 13 species:^[5]

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Erythropitta kochi		Luzon in the Philippines.
	Erythropitta erythrogaster	Philippine pitta	Philippines.
	Erythropitta dohertyi		Sula and Banggai Islands
	Erythropitta celebensis		Sulawesi, Manterawu, and Togian Islands
	Erythropitta rubrinucha		Indonesia on Buru and Seram.
	Erythropitta rufiventris		northern Moluccas
	Erythropitta meeki		Louisiade Archipelago in Papua New Guinea
	Erythropitta novaehibernicae		New Ireland Province in Papua New Guinea
	Erythropitta macklotii		Aru Islands, New Guinea
	Erythropitta arquata		Borneo
	Erythropitta granatina		Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand.
	Erythropitta venusta		Sumatra, Indonesia
	Erythropitta ussheri		Sabah in northern Borneo

Notes and References

1. Irestedt . M. . Ohlson . J.I. . Zuccon . D. . Källersjö . M. . Ericson . P.G.P. . 2006 . Nuclear DNA from old collections of avian study skins reveals the evolutionary history of the Old World suboscines (Aves: Passeriformes) . Zoologica Scripta . 35 . 6 . 567–580 . 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2006.00249.x . 84788609 .
2. Book: Bonaparte, Charles Lucien . Charles Lucien Bonaparte . 1854 . L'Ateneo Italiano; raccolta di documenti e memorie relative al progresso delle scienze fisiche compilato da S. de Luca e D. Müller . 2 . Paris . Masson . 317 .
3. Book: Gray, George Robert . George Robert Gray . 1855 . Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum . London . British Museum . 144 .
4. Web site: Jobling . J.A. . 2018 . Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology . del Hoyo . J. . Elliott . A. . Sargatal . J. . Christie . D.A. . de Juana . E. . Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive . Lynx Edicions . 13 January 2019 .
5. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela C. Rasmussen . December 2023 . NZ wrens, broadbills & pittas . IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 . International Ornithologists' Union . 4 February 2024 .