Eastern hooded pitta explained

The eastern hooded pitta (Pitta novaeguineae) is a passerine bird in the pitta family Pittidae that is endemic to New Guinea and some of the small neighbouring islands.

It is a green bird with a black head and chestnut crown. It forages on the ground for insects and their larvae, and also eats berries. It breeds between February and August, the pair being strongly territorial and building their nest on the ground. Incubation and care of the fledglings is done by both parents. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the hooded pitta, now renamed to the western hooded pitta.

Taxonomy

The eastern hooded pitta was formally described in 1845 by the German naturalists Salomon Müller and Hermann Schlegel under the binomial name Pitta novaeguineae.^[1] This was a replacement name for Pitta atricapilla Quoy and Gaimard, 1830,^[2] as the latter name was pre-occupied by Turdus atricapilla Forster, JR, 1781, a junior synonym of Turdus sordidus Müller, PLS, 1776.^[3] The eastern hooded pitta was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the hooded pitta (renamed to the western hooded pitta). It is now considered as a separate species based on the significant genetic, morphological and vocal differences.^[4] ^[5]

Three subspecies are recognised:^[5]

P. n. novaeguineae Müller, S & Schlegel, 1845 – Raja Ampat Islands (northwest of New Guinea), New Guinea, Karkar Island (off northeast New Guinea) and Crown to Tolokiwa (between New Guinea and New Britain, southeast Bismarck Archipelago)
P. n. goodfellowi White, CMN, 1937 – Aru Islands (southwest of New Guinea)
P. n. mefoorana Schlegel, 1874 – Numfor (Cenderawasih Bay islands, northwest New Guinea)

Notes and References

Book: Müller . Salomon . Salomon Müller . Schlegel . Hermann . Hermann Schlegel . 1845 . Verhandelingen over de natuurlijke geschiedenis . 3: Zoologie. Pitta . Dutch . Leiden . In commissie bij. S. en J. Luchtmans en C.C. van der Hoek . 19 . For the publication date see: Husson . A.M. . Holthuis . L.B. . 1955 . The dates of publication of "Verhandelingen over de natuurlijke Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche overzeesche Bezittingen" edited by C. J. Temminck . Zoologische Mededelingen . 34 . 2 . 17–24 .
Book: Quoy . J.R.C. . Jean René Constant Quoy . Gaimard . J.P. . Joseph Paul Gaimard . 1832 . Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabe : exécuté par ordre du roi, pendant les années 1826-1827-1828-1829: Zoologie . 1 . Paris . J. Tastu . 258–259, Plate 8, Fig. 3 .
Book: Traylor . Melvin A. Jr . 1979 . Check-list of Birds of the World . 8 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 323, 321.
Ericson . P.G.P. . Qu . Y. . Rasmussen . P.C. . Blom . M.P.K. . Rheindt . F.E. . Irestedt . M. . 2019 . Genomic differentiation tracks earth-historic isolation in an Indo-Australasian archipelagic pitta (Pittidae; Aves) complex . BMC Evolutionary Biology . 19 . 1 . 151 . 10.1186/s12862-019-1481-5 . free . 6657069 .
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 . 10 January 2024 .