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Taxonomic note

Pitta sordida, P. novaeguineae and P. rosenbergii (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as P. sordida following Sibley & Monroe (1990, 1993).

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.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Near Threatened	B1b(iii)
2016	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
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	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	64 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	3,600 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	13000-38000,27500 mature individuals	poor	inferred	2021
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	3.7 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: A previous population estimate of between 2,500-10,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2016) is now considered to be an underestimate. The majority of the range of the species is now considered suitable and likely occupied, while the previous estimate assumed only a small occupied fraction. The species is closely related to P. sordida on the island of Sangihe, Indonesia, which has been estimated to occur at densities of 17.5-24.2 individuals/km², derived from calling birds which are likely to be mature (Riley 2002). Using the global landcover 2 estimate of forest cover for the island (closed to open broadleaved evergreen or semi-deciduous forest) and excluding fragments smaller than 1 km² results in an area classified as forest habitat of 1,572 km². If the species occurred at equivalent densities to those reported for P. sordida from Sangihe, the population size would be between 27,510-38,042 mature individuals. It is plausible that this species occurs at a lower density than on Sangihe, hence a precautionary lower bound for the population is assumed by using 50% of the minimum density value, 8.75 per km², which results in a population size inferred to fall between 13,255 and 38,042 mature individuals, rounded to 13,000-38,000 mature individuals. As such, it is assessed that the population most likely exceeds thresholds for listing as threatened under the small population size criterion, and there is no direct estimate of the population that indicates that it falls below this threshold.

Trend justification: This species is considered to be moderately forest dependent. There has been a slow rate of forest cover loss, up to 3.6% over the past three generations (data from Global Forest Watch 2021, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein), and the loss of forest has been noted to have caused a decline in the population (M. Halaouate in litt. 2022). No direct assessment of rate of population change has been made for the species.

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	Arable Land	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Swamp	suitable	breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Swamp	suitable	non-breeding
Altitude	0 - 740 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Wood & pulp plantations - Small-holder plantations	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Species factsheet: Biak Hooded Pitta Pitta rosenbergii. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/biak-hooded-pitta-pitta-rosenbergii on 14/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 14/01/2025.