The rusty-naped pitta (''Hydrornis oatesi'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family Pittidae.

Taxonomy

The rusty-naped pitta was described by the amateur ornithologist Allan Octavian Hume in 1873 from specimens collected in the eastern Pegu Hills, Myanmar. Hume coined the current

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Hydrornis oatesi''. The species was subsequently placed in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Pitta'' but was then moved back to the resurrected

Hydrornis ''Hydrornis'' is a genus of pitta in the family Pittidae. The genus contains thirteen species, found in South-east Asia. The genus was formerly merged with the genus ''Pitta'', but a 2006 study split the family into three genera. Taxonomy The pi ...

'' in 2006 based on the results of a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study. The genus ''Hydrornis'' had been introduced by the English zoologist

Edward Blyth Edward Blyth (23 December 1810 – 27 December 1873) was an English zoologist who worked for most of his life in India as a curator of zoology at the museum of the Asiatic Society of India in Calcutta. Blyth was born in London in 1810. In 1841 ...

in 1843. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

was chosen to honour the amateur ornithologist Eugene William Oates (1845-1911) who had collected the specimens. Four

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised: * ''H. o. oatesi'' Hume, 1873 – from east Myanmar to northeast Laos and Thailand * ''H. o. castaneiceps'' ( Delacour & Jabouille, 1930) – southeast China to central Laos and northwest Vietnam * ''H. o. bolovenensis'' (Delacour, 1932) – south Laos and south Vietnam * ''H. o. deborah'' (King, BF, 1978) – central

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

Description

The male has a deep brown head and underparts with dull green wings. It has a well defined black stripe behind the eyes. The female is duller than the male, with brownish tingeing on the wings and vague dark scaling on the lower throat.

Distribution and habitat

The rusty-naped pitta is found in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

and adjacent parts of southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and 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 ...

s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s and subtropical, 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 fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

s and bamboo forests. It is typically found above .

References

rusty-naped pitta Birds of Indochina rusty-naped pitta Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Pittidae-stub