#pittas

[spinus-pinus]

Western Hooded Pitta Pitta sordida

2/13/2023 Tracy Aviary, Utah

[uwmspeccoll]

A Pitta Feathursday

Yesterday I visited UW-Madison Special Collections to view some of their extensive natural history materials, including this wonderful folio titled A Monograph of the Pittidae, or, Family of Ant Thrushes by Daniel Giraud Elliot. I looked at the first edition, published in 1863 in New York by D. Appleton & Company. UW-Madison Special Collections has three different editions: 1863, 1867, and 1893-95. The hand-colored lithographs were produced by Bowen & Co. in Philadelphia. Most of the illustrations are by Daniel Giraud Elliot because his artist Paul Ourdart of Paris passed away after only completing three of the plates.

Daniel Giraud Elliot (1835-1915) was an American zoologist and naturalist who had a long and varied career. Elliot was one of the founders of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and helped secure the ornithological collection. He was also one of the founding members of the American Ornithological Society. Elliot used his wealth to produce a large number of luxuriously printed ornithological books with hand-colored lithographs in the style of John James Audubon and John Gould.

Daniel Giraud Elliot wrote the preface of A Monograph of the Pittidae, or, Family of Ant Thrushes:

“The limited knowledge possessed by Ornithologists generally of the family constituting this monograph – the beautiful and varied plumage of the different species, together with a desire to contribute something to a branch of science which is so rapidly increasing in number of its followers, and which related to one of the most pleasing of the Almighty’s creations, are my reasons, if any are needed, for producing this work.”

Nowadays it seems that Pitta (Pittidae) and Ant Thrushes (Formicariidae) are in two distinct families. All the birds were are featuring today are Pittas in the family Pittidae.

From top to bottom, they are:

1-2.) Giant pitta (Hydrornis caeruleus). Here called: Brachyurus {Gigantipitta Bon.} caeruleus. (Young.)

3.) Blue pitta (Hydrornis cyaneus). Here called: Brachyurus {Gigantipitta Bon.} cyaneus.

4-5.) The Philippine pitta (Erythropitta erythrogaster) or blue-breasted pitta. Here called: Brachyurus {Erythropitta } celebensis.

6.) The Bornean banded pitta (Hydrornis schwaneri). Here called Pitta Schwaneri.

7.) Hooded pitta (Pitta sordida). Here called Brachyurus {Melanopitta} cucullatus.

8.) Giant pitta (Hydrornis caeruleus). Here called: Brachyurus {Gigantipitta Bon.} caeruleus.

9-10.) Graceful pitta (Erythropitta venusta). Here called: Brachyurus Venustus. My favorite because they are sharing a moth snack!

The 1893-1895 edition of  A Monograph of the Pittidae, or, Family of Ant Thrushes is digitized and available to view online through the Biodiversity Heritage Library. 

View more Feathursday posts.

–Sarah, Special Collections Senior Graduate Intern

[glutenfreefoodandsun]

Dinner is served. #Caribbean style chicken pittas 👩🏻‍🍳🥙🍴I’m #pescatarian and from time to time I like to switch to #vegetarian or #vegan for a bit, hence most of my #sweettreats are vegetarian or vegan, but my family is not (this includes my #cat 🐈😂). I always try to #cook #dishes that can easily be both pescatarian/#vegetarian and non-vegetarian alike. So tonight I’ve made #chicken #pittas and I had mines without the chicken. https://www.instagram.com/p/CBd05ITgy_b/?igshid=1wc94qd3pjo59

[histsciart]

Happy Feathursday! 

Malayan Banded Pitta family (Hydrornis irena). #SciArt by William M. Hart for Daniel Giraud Elliot, A Monograph of the Pittidæ (1893-95). View more in @biodivlibrary with thanks to the Raven Library of the @mobotgarden for digitizing.

[podartists]

Hydrornis schwaneri | A monograph of the Pittidæ, or family of ant-thrushes | Biodiversity Heritage Library (Dominio public)

[thalassarche]

Noisy Pitta (Pitta versicolor) - photo by Steve Hitchcock

[biodivlibrary]

#SciArtFix Blue Pittas (Hydrornis cyaneus). #SciArt by David W. Mitchell for George Robert Gray, The Genera of Birds, Vol. 1 (1844-49). Contributed for digitization by Smithsonian Libraries (@silibraries) to #BiodiversityHeritageLibrary. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40012338 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #BluePitta #Pittas #Birds #Ornithology #BHLib #Biodiversity #NaturalHistory #Biology #ScientificIllustration #ScientificArt #OpenAccess #LibrariesofInstagram #Libraries