Indian Pitta

The Indian Pitta (Pitta brachyura) is a passerine bird native to the Indian subcontinent. It lives in a deep evergreen forest, deciduous woodland, and scrubby jungle. It breeds in the Himalayan forests and the hills of central and western India, and in the winter it migrates to other regions of the peninsula. Despite being extremely colorful, it normally hides in the undergrowth and is shy, picking insects from the forest floor. At dawn and dusk, its characteristic two-note whistling call can be heard. The IUCN Red List classifies it as having the least concern because of the population's size.

The Indian pitta is a tiny, stubby-tailed bird that is typically seen searching for insects under leaf litter on the forest floor or in areas of dense undergrowth. It has long, powerful legs, a relatively short tail, a robust bill, black coronal stripes, a thick black eye stripe, as well as a white throat and neck. It also has a buff-colored crown stripe. The underparts are buff with brilliant red on the lower belly and vent. The upper parts are green with a blue tail. In order to forage, the bird leaps onto the ground, where it has been known to get caught in traps designed for small mammals. The width of the coronal stripe may vary between the sexes, according to some theories.