Erythropitta arquata (Gould, 1871)

Gulson-Castillo, Eric R., Pegan, Teresa M., Greig, Emma I., Hite, Justin M., Hruska, Jack P., Kapoor, Julian A., Orzechowski, Sophia C., Shipley, J. Ryan & Winkler, David W., 2019, Notes on nesting, territoriality and behaviour of broadbills (Eurylaimidae, Calyptomenidae) and pitas (Pitidae) in Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 139 (1), pp. 8-27 : 22

BLUE-BANDED PITTA Erythropitta arquata

Uncommon, but regularly distributed in appropriate habitat and reliably encountered in their territories. We found two territories in the lowlands, at c.345 and 290 m (the former shown in Fig. 11 , red points) and two in the highlands at 850 and 1082 m. All birds appeared to favour the steep slopes of ridges, in accord with previous habitat assessments ( Lambert & Woodcock 1996).

We observed the use of sonations, or non-vocal sounds, similar to those in Black-crowned Pitta ( Pegan et al. 2013) . These sonations sound like a soft knock on wood and appear to be produced using the wings. In one video ( ML 479573), after the bird had been singing from a perch for a couple of minutes, it lifted its wings without extending them and puffed its belly feathers. It then brought its wings down quickly as its belly is deflated, with a soft tok recorded just as its wings hit its sides, before they bounced back up. The quality of the sound was similar in both species. Further studies are required to determine whether they use the sonation in the same context as Black-crowned Pitta ( Pegan et al. 2013, see above). Although other pittas make sonations, their context appears somewhat different. Those of African Pitta angolensis and Green-breasted Pittas P. reichenowi sound different and are associated with displays (summarised in Erritzøe & Erritzøe 1998). Eared Pitta Hydrornis phayrei makes sonations by flicking their wings toward each other, instead of their flanks ( Round 2002); these are made repeatedly prior to calling. Gurney’s Pitta H. gurneyi makes wing-claps against its flanks together with territorial calls (Well 2007). Giant Pitta H. caerulea also makes wing-claps; it is unclear if they use their flanks, but they produce the sounds in flight when alarmed ( Lambert & Woodcock 1996).

Figures

Figure 11. Map of the topography of our study area showing sightings of four species of pittas during the 2012 field work: Black-crowned Pitta Erythropitta ussheri (purple), Blue-headed Pitta Hydrornis baudii (blue), Bornean Banded Pitta H. schwaneri (yellow) and Blue-banded Pitta Erythropitta arquata (red). Each point represents a sighting. Variation in point size and shape is an artefact of 3D plotting. The map demonstrates that the areas occupied by each species overlapped considerably, especially on the ridge in the centre, where all four species occurred in close proximity. Black-crowned Pitta was seen more commonly in low swampy areas, whereas the other three species occurred mainly on this ridge and its slopes. A fifth species, Hooded Pitta Pitta sordida, was heard infrequently and seen just once, a juvenile, at the green point. Grey lines represent trails, the brown line a water pipeline, and the blue line the Tawau River. 3D map courtesy of JAXA (2015).