• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Pitta elegans, P. concinna and P. vigorsii were previously lumped as P. elegans (del Hoyo and Collar 2016); now split following Trainor and Verbelen (2013) and Yue et al. (2020). Unlike the other two taxa, vigorsii has a two- and a three-note territorial call, but both are much slower than the others; and both its throat and its supercilium are white. Pitta vigorsii differs from all other taxa by its white throat (3), white supercilium (actually light buff at the front in the single specimen in Tring, also slightly bluish at rear) (1), and song difference (3). Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2022. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Least Concern
2016	Not Recognised
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	170,000 km2
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	8,700 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	5000-9999 mature individuals	medium	inferred	2022
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	2017-2028
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Generation length	3.85 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1-7,7	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population of this species has not been directly estimated. Qualitative descriptions of its abundance vary: Johnstone and van Balen (2013) reported it to be scarce/rare in the Tayandu and Kai island groups with no records from any of the main islands (although see records from eBird [2022]) but Coates and Bishop (1997) and Bishop and Brickle (1999) regarded it as generally common, a fact supported by its apparent habitat tolerances (Eaton et al. 2021). Jones et al. (1995) calculated approximate densities of 4 birds/km² for P. elegans, with which this species used to be considered conspecific; given its identical size and similar habitat requirements, a similar density is considered appropriate for P. vigorsii. In 2021, there was approximately 5,200 km² of forest within the species' mapped range (Global Forest Watch 2022). Assuming a similar density to that of P. elegans, and an occupancy rate of 40-70%, the population is inferred to be 8,300-14,500 birds, or 5,500-9,600 mature individuals, rounded here to 5,000-9,999. Assuming a constant population:area ratio across its range, the population on the Tanimbars is likely to be the largest, numbering c.3,800-6,600 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The population is suspected of being in decline because of ongoing forest loss, which was equivalent to 7% over the three generations to 2021 (Global Forest Watch 2022, using data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein). This species is quite tolerant of habitat degradation, however still requires some kind of tree cover, and therefore the rate of reduction is broadly set in the band 1-9% over the past and future three generation timeframes.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Indonesia	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Moist	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 120 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Shifting agriculture	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Banda Sea Pitta Pitta vigorsii. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/banda-sea-pitta-pitta-vigorsii on 02/12/2024.
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 02/12/2024.