Current view: Data table and detailed info
Taxonomic note
Hydrornis baudii (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) was previously listed as Pitta baudii.
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
Red List history
| Migratory status |
not a migrant |
Forest dependency |
medium |
| Land-mass type |
shelf island
|
Average mass |
- |
Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified but is believed to be large given the range and frequency of records in suitable habitat. It is a forest-dependent species and within its range the rate of forest conversion to plantations, primarily oil palm, has been very rapid over the past few decades (Global Forest Watch 2023) and as such the population is inferred to be declining. There are recent records from remaining forested areas across the range, however the extent of suitable habitat is now considerably smaller than three generations ago. Where habitat is secure the species continues to be regularly observed (eBird 2023), though observing the species away from protected areas is becoming much more difficult. In most literature, it is described as uncommon to locally common (Mann 2008, Eaton et al. 2021). Nonetheless, surveys are needed to determine a likely population size given the idiosyncrasies in density at different sites.
Trend justification: Determining the rate of population reduction in this species is difficult owing to considerable uncertainty in its true distribution and clear differences in density between sites/areas. For example, at Danum Valley Conservation Area, the species is common and the most readily-encountered pitta species (eBird 2023), but at other sites (e.g. Ulu Tempurung National Park) it is inexplicably absent, despite ostensibly suitable habitat. The species appears to be dependent on large tracts of low-lying, flat forest (even though, where this is present, it is often found in adjacent degraded habitats and on slopes) which have been the most impacted by deforestation.
In the three generations (12.1 years; Bird et al. 2020) to 2021, forest cover in this species' mapped range was reduced by c.23-25%, depending on the assumptions used (Global Forest Watch 2023, based on data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein). This is considered the minimum rate of reduction given the species' preference for the lowest elevation forests (which have experienced the most rapid deforestation rates) and any impacts of degradation which is not otherwise accounted for. Moreover, at some sites it may have become scarcer even in the absence of habitat loss and degradation. Along the Kinabatangan River, for example, the encounter rate appears to have decreased over the last decade (J. Eaton in litt. 2022, eBird 2023); the cause of this is unknown, but may be explained by delayed fragmentation effects (extinction debt). Consequently, the rate of population reduction is suspected of being 25-35% in the past three generations, although there is substantial uncertainty in this. In the absence of any slowdown in forest loss between 2018 and 2021, this rate of decline is precautionarily suspected to continue in the future three generations, although may ultimately begin to subside as an increasing proportion of the species' range is encompassed by protected areas.
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Blue-headed Pitta Hydrornis baudii. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/blue-headed-pitta-hydrornis-baudii 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.
