Minahasa hooded pitta

Minahasa hooded pitta
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pittidae
Genus: Pitta
Species:
P. forsteni
Binomial name
Pitta forsteni
(Bonaparte, 1850)
Synonyms
List
  • Brachyurus forsteni Bonaparte, 1850
  • Melanopitta bonapartena Mathews, 1926
  • Pitta melanocephala Müller & Schlegel, 1839
  • Pitta sordida forsteni (Bonaparte, 1850)

The Minahasa hooded pitta (Pitta forsteni) is a species of passerine bird in the pitta family Pittidae that is endemic to the Minahasa Peninsula at the north of the island of Sulawesi.

It is a green bird with a black head and chestnut crown. It forages on the ground for insects and their larvae, and also eats berries. It breeds between February and August, the pair being strongly territorial and building their nest on the ground. Incubation and care of the fledglings is done by both parents. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the hooded pitta, now renamed to the western hooded pitta.

Taxonomy

[edit]

The Minahasa hooded pitta was formally described in 1850 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte under the binomial name Brachyurus forsteni.[1] This was a replacement name for Pitta melanocephala Müller, S and Schlegel, 1845.[2][3] The specific epithet was chosen to honour the memory of the Dutch naturalist Eltio Alegondas Forsten, the collector of the specimen described by Müller and Schlegel.[2][4]

References

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  1. ^ Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1850). Conspectus Generum Avium (in Latin). Vol. 1. Leiden: E.J. Brill. p. 256.
  2. ^ a b Müller, Salomon; Schlegel, Hermann (1845). Verhandelingen over de natuurlijke geschiedenis (in Dutch). Vol. 3: Zoologie. Pitta. Leiden: In commissie bij. S. en J. Luchtmans en C.C. van der Hoek. p. 19. For the publication date see: Husson, A.M.; Holthuis, L.B. (1955). "The dates of publication of "Verhandelingen over de natuurlijke Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche overzeesche Bezittingen" edited by C. J. Temminck". Zoologische Mededelingen. 34 (2): 17–24.
  3. ^ Traylor, Melvin A. Jr, ed. (1979). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 8. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 323.
  4. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.