African Pitta

Open encyclopedia reference

The African pitta (Pitta angolensis) is an Afrotropical bird of the family Pittidae. It is a locally common to uncommon species, resident and migratory in the west, and an intra-African migrant between equatorial and southeastern Africa. They are elusive and hard to observe despite their brightly coloured plumage, and their loud, explosive calls are infrequently heard. The plump, somewhat thrush-like birds forage on leaf litter under the canopy of riparian or coastal forest and thickets, or in climax miombo forest. They spend much time during mornings and at dusk scratching in leaf litter or around termitaria, or may stand motionless for long periods. Following rains breeding birds call and display from the mid-canopy.

Wikipedia contributors, African pitta; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:10:23.730659+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Pitta angolensis Vieillot, 1816

Name authority

Vieillot, 1816

Common name

African Pitta

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Pittidae

Genus

Pitta

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderPasseriformes
10. familyPittidae
11. genusPitta Vieillot, 1816
12. speciesPitta angolensis Vieillot, 1816

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Pitta. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 28 records assigned to Pittidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. Vieillot, & Louis Pierre. (1816). Brève. Nouveau Dictionnaire d’Histoire Naturelle, Appliquée Aux Arts, À l’Agriculture, À l’Économie Rurale et Domestique, À La Médecine, Etc. Par Une Société de Naturalisted et d’Agriculteurs Nouvelle Édition, Vol. 4. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4JBXW. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.