Indian Pitta [Pitta brachyura]
Flora & Fauna
The Indian Pitta is a colourful, small bird measuring around 18-20 cm. Interestingly, the word ‘pitta’ (meaning ‘small bird’), is derived from the Telugu language. According to Wikipedia, “It has long, strong legs, a very short tail and stout bill, with a buff coloured crown stripe, black coronal stripes, a thick black eye stripe and white throat and neck. The upperparts are green, with a blue tail, the underparts buff, with bright red on the lower belly and vent.” According to Prince Frederick’s article ‘Following the Indian Pitta from the Himalayan foothills to IIT Madras’ published in The Hindu (10th January 2021), “IIT-M has Indian Pittas coming out of its ears. Hyperbole apart, this bird is found in impressive numbers on this campus, especially at the height of the wintering season.” Salim Ali and S. Dillon Ripley describe the call of the bird as “a loud clear double whistle wheeet-tieu or wieet-piyou uttered mostly in the early morning and late evening.” Interestingly, the bird is called the ‘six-o-clock bird’.
- Contribute
to the Centre -
Monetary
Support 
Digital
Material
