Sulawesi Pitta

Photo by martinuk
Tangkoko National Park, Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia, October, 2009

Erythropitta celebensis

Identification

16 - 18cm.

• Red-brown head with dark brown lores and supercilium and cinnamon cheeks
• Blue stripe from midcrown to nape (variable)
• Blue upper mantle
• Dark green lower mantle and back
• Blue rump and tail
• Deep blue upperwing-coverts, black flight-feathers, variable small white spots on primaries
• Black lower throat and upper breast (sometimes with white throatband)
• Broad glossy blue band across breast with broad black band below
• Scarlet rest of underparts
• Black bill

Females are duller and more green and less blue on breast. Juveniles are dull brown above and have a dull blue rump and tail. They are paler below, have a whitish throat and a dark brown breast with white spots.

Distribution

Found on Sulawesi and the adjacent islands of Manterawu and Togian Islands, Indonesia.
Locally common.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.
Formerly included in Red-bellied Pitta.

Habitat

Dense primary rainforest, logged or heavily degraded forest, scrub, plantations, remnant forest patches with cultivation, bamboo groves and thickets near rivers. Often in forest on volcanic soils.
In lowlands below 1200 m.

Behaviour

Diet

Feeds on insects and their larvae, earthworms and some plant material.
Forages mainly on the ground.

Breeding

Singing males recorded on territory from January to March but season probably to October.
The domed nest is made of twigs and leaves, grass and ferns. It's mostly placed on the ground or low in scrub or a tree. Some nests were placed 10m above the ground. Lays 2 eggs.

Movements

Probably sedentary.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Dickinson, EC, ed. 2003. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 3rd ed., with updates to October 2008 (Corrigenda 8). Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691117010
3. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2016. IOC World Bird Names (version 6.3). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
4. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and D Christie, eds. 2003. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 8: Broadbills to Tapaculos. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334504

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Sulawesi Pitta. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 12 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Sulawesi_Pitta

External Links

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