Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Telling these two apart

I have problems differentiating between the mangrove pitta, the only local pitta left in Singapore, and the blue-winged pitta, a migrant.
Mangrove pitta (left) Blue-winged pitta (right)
I did some research and thought it would be nice to share it with everyone.  Both species are placed side-by-side for easier comparison. Three distinguishing areas to look for: -
  1. Mangrove pitta has less blue on the wing
  2. Mangrove has a longer beak
  3. Mangrove's head patch extends further back and is larger
Personally, the head patch is probably the easiest way to tell them apart in the field.

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