The range of the threatened Gurney's Pitta Pitta gurneyi (classified as Critical) defines this Secondary Area. It is found in southern peninsular Thailand and adjacent southern Tenasserim in Myanmar, in level lowland semi-evergreen rain forest below 150 m. Its range appears to correspond to a transitional zone between the everwet tropical rain forests of Peninsular Malaysia and the more seasonal semi-evergreen and monsoon forests found in much of continental south-east Asia (see Whitmore 1984). Level lowland forest has been almost completely lost within its range in Thailand, where intensive survey work has located birds at four localities, but the only possibly viable population is at Khao Nor Chuchi in Krabi province, where 24-34 pairs are estimated; there have been no records from Myanmar since 1914, and it is feared that lowland forests are also rapidly being lost there (Collar et al. 1986, Round and Treesucon 1986). Khao Nor Chuchi has been the focus of a BirdLife International/Wild Bird Society of Thailand/Dansk Ornitologisk Forening project since 1990, which is trying to halt deforestation there, but the area of suitable habitat continues to decline gradually and territories are being lost (Gretton et al. 1993).

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Endemic Bird Area factsheet: Peninsular Thailand lowland forests. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/eba/factsheet/385 on 22/11/2024.