LC
African Pitta Pitta angolensis



Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2024 Least Concern
2016 Least Concern
2012 Least Concern
2009 Least Concern
2008 Least Concern
2004 Least Concern
2000 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988 Lower Risk/Least Concern
Species attributes

Migratory status full migrant Forest dependency medium
Land-mass type Average mass 84 g
Range

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 7,530,000 km2 medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding) 8,070,000 km2 medium
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
Estimate Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
Population size unknown - - -
Population trend decreasing - suspected -
Generation length 3.51 years - - -

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is reported to be locally common (Lambert and Woodcock 1996). This species is considered to have a medium dependency on forest habitat, and tree cover is estimated to have declined by 10.9% within its mapped range over the past 10 years (Global Forest Watch 2022, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). Therefore, as a precautionary measure, it is tentatively suspected that this loss of cover may have led to a decline of between 1-19% in the species' population size over the same time frame.

Trend justification:   .


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding visitor Non-breeding visitor Passage migrant
Angola extant native
Burundi extant native
Cameroon extant native
Central African Republic extant native
Congo extant native
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the extant native
Côte d'Ivoire extant native
Equatorial Guinea extant vagrant
Ethiopia extant vagrant
Gabon extant native
Ghana extant native
Guinea extant native
Kenya extant native
Liberia extant native
Malawi extant native
Mozambique extant native
Nigeria extant native
Rwanda extant native
Sierra Leone extant native
South Africa extant vagrant
Tanzania extant native
Togo extant native
Uganda extant native
Zambia extant native
Zimbabwe extant native

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable non-breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland major non-breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland major breeding
Shrubland Subtropical/Tropical Moist suitable non-breeding
Shrubland Subtropical/Tropical Moist suitable breeding
Wetlands (inland) Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands suitable non-breeding
Wetlands (inland) Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands suitable breeding
Wetlands (inland) Shrub Dominated Wetlands suitable breeding
Wetlands (inland) Shrub Dominated Wetlands suitable non-breeding
Altitude 0 - 1000 m Occasional altitudinal limits  

Utilisation
Purpose Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture international

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: African Pitta Pitta angolensis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/african-pitta-pitta-angolensis on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.