Noisy Pitta (Pitta versicolor) [XC389784]
by Niels Poul Dreyer from Lamington National Park (near O'reilly), Queensland, Australia (call)
Noisy Pitta (Pitta versicolor) [XC174165]
by Marc Anderson from Koah, Queensland, Australia (song)
Nest
A large, domed structure with a rounded entrance at the side, composed of twigs and moss, on the ground, usually between the buttresss of a hillside jungle tree. A peculiarity of pittas' nests is a moist 'doormat' of animal dung inside the nest chamber.
Eggs (Guide)
3 or 4, rarely 5; glossy, pearly white with varying amounts of dark brown, chestnut and purple-grey spots or blotches; rounded-oval; about 32 x 25 mm. Incubation: probably around 17 days; by both sexes.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 14 - 20 days.
versicolor Swainson, 1825 - Cairns District south to eastern New South Wales (south to R Hunter region).
simillima Gould, 1868 - Islands in Torres Strait, and north-eastern Queensland (from Cape York Peninsula south to Cairns District). Some migrate to southern New Guinea.
intermedia Mathews, 1912 - North-eastern Queensland east of the Great Dividing Range, from Endeavour - Upper Normanby Rivers south to Dawson - Mackenzie River Basin. This may represent clinal variation of versicolor.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
(41Kb) © ? (
BirdLife International Species Factsheet