The eared pitta (''Hydrornis phayrei'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the

pitta Pittas are a family, Pittidae, of passerine birds found in Asia, Australasia and Africa. There are 44 species of pittas, all similar in general appearance and habits. The pittas are Old World suboscines, and their closest relatives among other ...

family, Pittidae, and is found in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

Description

It has formerly been placed into its own genus, ''Anthocincla'', on account of its apparent primitive characteristics. It is the only species in the Pitta family with entirely cryptic colours in the adults of both sexes. As with other ''Hydrornis'' species, they exhibit sexually dimorphic plumage, and a cryptic juvenile plumage. The adult male has a central black line over the crown, reaching and covering the nape. The plumage either side of this is rufescent buff, with feathers margined black besides having a black bar near their bases. The lores, sides of face and nape are black. The

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also k ...

ends in lengthened pointed feathers, white and barred black, which protrude up to an inch beyond the occiput. The upper part plumage, wings and tail are all rufescent brown. Primaries with their greater coverts are blackish brown, except for a buff bar at the base of the primaries. The chin and middle of throat are white. Sides of throat, flanks and abdomen are however ferruginous brown; the sides of throat and flanks also spotted black. The undertail-coverts pale vermilion. The bill is black, but the mandible reddish brown at the gape. The iris is deep brown; the feet and claws flesh-coloured. The female has her breast and sides more densely spotted with black; the ear-coverts, head and occiput plumage of the same colour as the mantle and back, but the ear-coverts are pencilled with black. The lengthened superciliary feathers are shorter than that of the male, and less pure white; the under tail-coverts paler. In other respects the female plumage resembles that of the male.

Habitat

Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in large ...

and subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

Status

The global population size has not been quantified, but the

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

is reported to be rare or very rare in most localities though occasionally locally common. This species has a very large

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

, and hence does not approach the thresholds for vulnerable under the range size criterion (extent of occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size,

extent/quality, or

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure. For these reasons the species is evaluated as

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Lambert, F.; Woodcock, M. 1996. Pittas, broadbills and asities. Pica Press, Robertsbridge, U.K. eared pitta Birds of Bangladesh Birds of Laos Birds of Southeast Asia eared pitta eared pitta Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Pittidae-stub