Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
The conservation status of this species is not well understood, with the species only regularly recorded from one site. However, it has a restricted range and there is thought to be an ongoing decline in the area and quality of its habitat such that it qualifies for listing as Near Threatened.
Population justification
This species is poorly understood, with recent records mostly from Tirotonga Village where it is described as fairly common (Dutson 2011). The species is protected in this area with a density of approximately five calling birds per 1.5 km2 block, although it is suspected to be scarce across most of its range (J. Bergmark in litt. 2022). Based on this density and assuming that 50% of suitable habitat is occupied, the species’ population size is estimated to number approximately 6,500 mature individuals and is tentatively placed here in the range 2,500-10,000. There is much uncertainty surrounding this population estimate however and it may be much lower; density is high around Tirotonga village where the species is actively protected but it is suspected to be very scarce across the remainder of its range (J. Bergmark in litt. 2022).
It is described as uncommon at the headwaters of the Kolosita River on Santa Isabel, with up to five individuals reported daily around 600 m (DeCicco et al. 2019). It was formerly reasonably common, at least on Bougainville, where 40 specimens were collected before 1938 (Erritzoe and Erritzoe 1998). It was then not recorded until 1994 when it was found to be fairly common at Tirotonga on Santa Isabel (Gibbs 1996), with up to three birds heard calling simultaneously (D. Gibbs in litt. 1994, Gibbs 1996, G. Dutson pers. obs. 1998). Searches and interviews on Choiseul and Bougainville have been unsuccessful (D. Gibbs in litt. 1994, K. D. Bishop in litt. 1997, G. Dutson pers. obs. 1998) until it was recorded on Choiseul in 2014 (Boseto and Pikacha 2015), although is possibly extirpated on Bougainville (Hadden 2004, Woxvold and Novera 2021).
Trend justification
There are no data on population trends; however, the species is suspected to be declining owing to forest loss and degradation. In the three generations (11.7 years; Bird et al. 2020) to 2021, remote sensing data indicate that 5-7% of forest was lost in the species' range (Global Forest Watch 2022, using data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein) and this may accelerate slightly (to an equivalent rate of 7-9%) in the future based on losses in 2016-2021. The rate of population decline is tentatively placed here in the range 1-9% within three generations.
Pitta anerythra is endemic to Choiseul and Santa Isabel, Solomon Islands. It formerly occurred on Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, although is thought to be possibly extirpated here (Hadden 2004).
At Tirotonga, it is found in primary forest, and also small forest remnants and regrowth thickets within a patchwork of gardens between 400 and 600 m (Dutson 2011). Here it is more common in the secondary thickets of the gardened areas and less common in large tracts of primary forest. Two nests found in 1998 were in tiny fragments of closed-canopy forest next to gardens and thickets, one in 1999 was in primary forest (M. Hafe verbally 1998, 1999). In the 1920s and 1930s, the Whitney expeditions found this species in forested mountain valleys and coastal and alluvial plains (Rothschild and Hartert 1905, Mayr 1945).
Some of the historical specimens were taken in alluvial valleys (Mayr 1945) and this habitat is threatened by the extensive logging of lowland forests. Lowland hill forests across Choiseul and Santa Isabel continue to be extensively logged (e.g. Katovai et al. 2015), and remote sensing data indicate that forest loss is ongoing within this species' range (Global Forest Watch 2022, using data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein). It may be threatened by introduced cats and rats (Dutson 2011), although it occurs beside settlements with cats, dogs and rats at Tirotonga which suggests it is not susceptible to introduced mammalian predators (D. Gibbs in litt. 1994, Gibbs 1996, G. Dutson pers. obs. 1998, M. Hafe verbally 1998, 1999). It may have declined severely away from Tirotonga, however the possibility remains that the species has always been rare with an extremely patchy distribution (Erritzoe 2020).
Conservation Actions Underway
It is actively protected around Tirotonga village (J. Bergmark in litt. 2022).
15 cm. Typical pitta with prominent sky-blue wing-coverts. Bright green upperparts, warm buff underparts. Black mask encircles face and variably across forehead. Similar spp. No other pitta is known from the range but vagrant Eastern Hooded Pitta P. novaeguineae and Noisy Pitta P. versicolor are possible. Voice Single or double rasping tooyiii. Hints Very wary. Calls from high perches.
Text account compilers
Vine, J.
Contributors
Bergmark, J., Bishop, K.D., Dutson, G., Gibbs, D., Hafe, M. & Iles, M.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Black-faced Pitta Pitta anerythra. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/black-faced-pitta-pitta-anerythra on 23/11/2024.
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 23/11/2024.