Justification This beautiful pitta qualifies as Vulnerable because its population is suspected to be rapidly declining owing to deforestation in its breeding range, principally for agriculture and timber, locally compounded by trapping for the cagebird trade.

Family/Sub-family Pittidae

Species name author Temminck & Schlegel, 1850

Taxonomic source(s) Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)

Identification 16-19.5 cm. Small, brightly-coloured pitta. Chestnut crown and forehead with black median stripe. Pale buffish supercilium extending through nape. Broad black stripe from lores to nape. Green mantle, scapulars and back and bright blue rump and uppertail-coverts. Brownish-black primaries with small white patch. Dark blue primary coverts, dark green greater and median coverts and bright blue lesser coverts. Whitish chin, rest of underparts buffish with red vent and stripe to lower belly. Similar spp. Blue-winged Pitta P. moluccensis is larger with buff crown sides/supercilium, brighter blue rump and uppertail-coverts, deeper buff underparts and blue on all upperwing-coverts. In flight, shows larger white primary patch. Voice Song is clear, whistled kwah-he kwa-wu, longer and slower than P. moluccensis.

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

2,500-9,999

decreasing

1,170,000 km²

No

Range & population Pitta nympha breeds in north-east Asia in Japan, South Korea, mainland China and Taiwan (China), and winters mainly on the island of Borneo in east Malaysia, Brunei and Kalimantan in Indonesia. It has been recorded on passage in northern Taiwan¹, North Korea, Vietnam and Hong Kong (China). It appears to be localised in its breeding range, but occurs at relatively high densities at some localities. Preliminary estimates based on playback surveys by the Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute suggest that up to 2,000 individuals may breed in Taiwan⁶. Survey effort in Jiangxi², Guangxi^3,4 and Hainan⁵ Provinces, China identified a number of new locations. Overall, its population is unlikely to be more than a few thousand individuals and it is thought to be declining, although the Japanese Ministy of Environment report in 2004 shows that it was recorded in a greater number of survey squares during 1997-2002 distributional surveys of Japanese animals compared with their 1974-1978 figures⁷.

Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria.

Ecology: It breeds in subtropical forest, where its localised distribution suggests it has specialised habitat requirements. In Japan, it breeds primarily in broadleaved evergreen forest near the coast (mostly <500 m), although breeding has been recorded from plantations and the species appears to be adaptable to modified forest habitats. In South Korea, it breeds in dense moist forest and broadleaved forest near the coast, up to 1,200 m. It forages amongst leaf-litter for invertebrates.

Threats The key threat is extensive lowland deforestation in its breeding range. In south-east China, most forest has been cleared or modified through conversion to agricultural land and logging for timber. Uncontrolled fires have further reduced remaining forest cover. The area of forest in Japan is gradually increasing, but mature forest is rare and most is regenerating secondary forest or plantations cut on a 15-30 year cycle. It was extensively trapped for the cage-bird trade in the past in Taiwan and hunting is a threat in China. Human disturbance is a problem in Taiwan, South Korea and particularly on Japanese breeding grounds where the species suffers disturbance from photographers⁷. Huben-Hushan IBA in Yunlin County, Taiwan supports the largest known breeding population of the species, but it is seriously threatened by the proposed Hushan Dam Project which would flood 422 hectares of key habitat. Despite opposition from conservation groups this project has not been stopped and disturbance at the construction site saw the number of breeding birds drop to 18 in 2007, from 32 the previous year⁶.

Conservation measures underway CITES Appendix II. It is legally protected in mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, North Korea and South Korea. It occurs in a number of protected areas across its range, notably Keoje Island Natural Monument, the main breeding site in South Korea. BirdLife International and the Wild Bird Federation Taiwan have successfully lobbied against gravel extraction at Huban-Hushan IBA in the past and are now campaigning against the proposed Hushan Dam Project at the same site.

Conservation measures proposed Survey its breeding range to establish its population size, distribution, habitat requirements and occurrence in protected areas. Research its ecology with the aim of developing appropriate forest management regimes in protected areas where it occurs. Protect remaining areas of forest where this and other threatened species occur and ensure they are suitably managed. Ensure adequate protection of forest in existing protected areas holding this species and prevent hunting and trapping within them. Continue to lobby against the proposed Hushan Dam project.

References BirdLife International (2001). 1. W. Hsu in litt. (2003). 2. Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (2003). 3. Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (2002a). 4. Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (2002b). 5. Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (2001). 6. Fang Woei-Horng in litt. (2007). 7. Yukihiro Kominami in litt. (2007).

Further web sources of information

Fully detailed species accounts from the Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book (BirdLife International 2001), together with new information collated since the publication of the Red Data Book

Text account compilers Phil Benstead (BirdLife International), Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Mike Crosby (BirdLife International), Nic Peet (BirdLife International)

Contributors Wayne Hsu, Yukihiro Kominami (Wild Bird Society of Japan), Fang Woei-Horng

IUCN Red List evaluators Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Mike Crosby (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Pitta nympha. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/2/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife

To contribute to discussions on the evaluation of the IUCN Red List status of Globally Threatened Birds, please visit BirdLife's Globally Threatened Bird Forums