What is Mangrove Pitta?

About Mangrove Pitta:

• It is a species of passerine bird in the Pittidae family native to Southeast Asia and South Asia. 
• Scientific Name: Pitta megarhyncha
• Distribution: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand (primarily the west coast of the southern Thai peninsula).
• Habitat:  It is found in mangrove and nipa palm forests where it feeds on crustaceans, mollusks and insects. 
• Features: They are colourful birds which have black head with brown crown, white throat, greenish upper parts, buff under-parts and reddish vent area.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN: Near Threatened

What is a passerine bird?

• A passerine or passeriform is a member of the order Passeriformes, the largest order of birds, containing more than half of all species. 
• They are also known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds.
• Passerines are all terrestrial, found on all continents except Antarctica.

Q1) What are perching birds?

Perching birds have three unwebbed toes in the front and one strong, flexible toe in the back called the hallux, that lets them perch on tree branches. Most species of perching birds have 12 tail feathers.

Source: First-ever census finds 179 mangrove pitta birds in two coastal Odisha districts

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