Velvet asity
Philepitta castanea (P. L. S. Müller, 1776)
The velvet asity (Philepitta castanea) is a species in the family Philepittidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 35 g to 35.7 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the velvet asity
- Weight
- 35.4 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Frugivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the velvet asity
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the velvet asity live?
Not recorded
What is the velvet asity?
The velvet asity (Philepitta castanea) is a bird species in the family Philepittidae that is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Non-breeding males have yellow-tipped feathers, while breeding males have a velvety black plumage with a pair of green fleshy supraorbital caruncles above the eyes. Adult females are greenish and have underparts striped with pale yellow-green longitudinal lines. Velvet asities eat berries and other fruits in the undergrowth. They build hanging nests with a little roof over the entrance. The species is listed as “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List.
From the Wikipedia article “Velvet asity” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Velvet_asity&oldid=1380565890), 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 velvet asity endangered?
The velvet asity is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- 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 velvet asity classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPhilepittidae
- genusPhilepitta
- SpeciesPhilepitta castanea (P. L. S. Müller, 1776)
Synonyms Philepitta sericea, Turdus castaneus, Turdus rubrocanus
Other names and names in other languages (35)
- Кадифена филепитаBulgarian
- asití de vellutCatalan
- pitovec hedvábnýCzech
- asiti tywyllWelsh
- FløjlsasitiDanish
- SeidenjalaGerman
- velura filepitoEsperanto
- Filepita aterciopeladaSpanish
- samet-asiitiEstonian
- آسیتی ابرو سبزPersian
- samettiasittiFinnish
- Philépitte veloutéeFrench
- veliki asitiCroatian
- bársonypittaHungarian
- Asity vellutatoItalian
- Asite di vellutoItalian
- Filepitta castanaItalian
- ビロードマミヤイロチョウJapanese
- aksominė madagaskarinė pitaLithuanian
- AsityMalagasy
- FluweelasitieDutch
- fløyelsasitiNorwegian
- brodawnik aksamitnyPolish
- asite-veludoPortuguese
- filepita-veludoPortuguese
- Бархатная филепиттаRussian
- Бархатистая филепиттаRussian
- jala tmaváSlovak
- Somotasta asitaSerbian
- sammetsasitSwedish
- Filipe FilipetiTurkish
- асіті чорнийUkrainian
- Đuôi cụt nhungVietnamese
- 紫黑裸眉鸫Chinese
- 絲絨裸眉鶇Chinese
Relatives of the velvet asity
Other species in the same genus Philepitta.
Schlegel's asity
Philepitta schlegeli
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the velvet asity?
An adult velvet asity weighs 35.4 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the velvet asity endangered?
The velvet asity 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 velvet asity?
The velvet asity (Philepitta castanea) belongs to the family Philepittidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Velvet asity (Philepitta castanea). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/velvet-asity
“Velvet asity (Philepitta castanea).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/velvet-asity.
@misc{velvet_asity_2026,
title = {Velvet asity (Philepitta castanea)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/velvet-asity},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}