CreatureData

African pitta

Pitta angolensis Vieillot, 1816

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The African pitta (Pitta angolensis) is a species in the family Pittidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 62.7 g to 82.1 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

African pitta (Pitta angolensis)
Photo: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the African pitta

Weight
62.7 g – 82.1 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the African pitta live?

Not recorded

What is the African pitta?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The African pitta (Pitta angolensis) is an Afrotropical bird of the family Pittidae. It is a locally common to uncommon species, resident and migratory in the west, and an intra-African migrant between equatorial and southeastern Africa. They are elusive and hard to observe despite their brightly coloured plumage, and their loud, explosive calls are infrequently heard. The plump, somewhat thrush-like birds forage on leaf litter under the canopy of riparian or coastal forest and thickets, or in climax miombo forest. They spend much time during mornings and at dusk scratching in leaf litter or around termitaria, or may stand motionless for long periods. Following rains breeding birds call and display from the mid-canopy.

From the Wikipedia article “African pitta” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=African_pitta&oldid=1371444449), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the African pitta endangered?

The African pitta is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the African pitta classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyPittidae
  6. genusPitta
  7. SpeciesPitta angolensis Vieillot, 1816
Other names and names in other languages (37)
  • AngolapittaAfrikaans
  • بيتا أفريقيArabic
  • pita d'AngolaCatalan
  • pita africkáCzech
  • pita AffricaWelsh
  • Afrikansk PittaDanish
  • Angola-PittaGerman
  • afrika pitoEsperanto
  • Pita angoleñaSpanish
  • aafrika pitaEstonian
  • پیتای آنگولاییPersian
  • afrikanpittaFinnish
  • Brève d'AngolaFrench
  • Brève d’AngolaFrench
  • crvenotrba pitaCroatian
  • afrikai pittaHungarian
  • Pitta africanaItalian
  • アフリカヤイロチョウJapanese
  • A̱gwam-a̱ga̱shootTyap
  • angolinė pitaLithuanian
  • Африка питтаWestern Mari
  • praktpittaNorwegian
  • kurtaczek angolskiPolish
  • افریقی نورنگاWestern Panjabi
  • pita-angolanaPortuguese
  • Pita-d'AngolaPortuguese
  • pita-de-angolaPortuguese
  • Ангольская питтаRussian
  • pita plavoprsáSlovak
  • Afrička pitaSerbian
  • afrikansk juveltrastSwedish
  • Afrika PittasıTurkish
  • піта ангольськаUkrainian
  • Đuôi cụt châu PhiVietnamese
  • 非洲八色鳥Chinese
  • 非洲八色鶇Chinese
  • 非洲八色鸫Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the African pitta

Other species in the same genus Pitta.

LC, Least Concern

Indian pitta

Pitta brachyura

PittidaeNo free photo yet

CompareAfrican pitta vs Indian pittaAfrican pitta vs Western hooded pittaAfrican pitta vs Blue-winged pittaAfrican pitta vs Rainbow pitta

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the African pitta?

An adult African pitta weighs 62.7 g – 82.1 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the African pitta endangered?

The African pitta is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the African pitta?

The African pitta (Pitta angolensis) belongs to the family Pittidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). African pitta (Pitta angolensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-pitta

MLA

“African pitta (Pitta angolensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-pitta.

BibTeX
@misc{african_pitta_2026,
  title = {African pitta (Pitta angolensis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-pitta},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}