Garnet Pitta
This is my Pitta no 4 with 3 more to go for peninsula Malaysia.
In Borneo Sabah & Sarawak you can see another few more.
Stumbled upon it while hunting for lifer in Bukit Lancang vast lowland forest.
Garnet Pitta like others Pittas live alone until breeding & nesting season
which falls from Mar-August of the year. It must be wandering around looking
for mate when I bumped into it. Because of this bird I got lost in the forest fringe for almost an hour. It was a frightening experience. You literally freak out in cold sweat when suddenly the trail became cold and the jungle swallow all sight of markers laid out. I was walking in circles and I was damn lucky to hit one of my marker later. Keeping calm I slowly back track my path out. And thanks to my bird luck that I make it out in one piece. Lesson learned the next time I better make sure I have my compass and a GPS tracker in tow.
Now back to this resident bird. Garnet Pitta go for fruits and grubs that it
forage in middle to low canopy and on the ground.. It is an agile bird hopping
and flying onto branches in thick lowlight forest unlike its cousins which
mainly stays on the ground. However it do nest in earth burrow or dead tree
trunks or overgrown shrubby embankment of dry creeks & waterways. It is 16
cm or 6 inches in length with a striking red crown, dark face and maroon belly.
It has a distinctly loud monotony "whuuuit " call distinctly loud. Here's reminding you - do not bird alone in unchartered forest............good luck.
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