blue pitta Hydrornis cyaneus

Only the male of this rotund ground-dweller is truly blue; the female only has a hint of blue on the rump and tail. Male is brilliant and eye-catching if seen well: sky-blue on the back with a polka-dotted light blue breast and belly. Female has gray-brown wings and finely barred white underparts. Both sexes boast a pale face and a thin black eyebrow, above which flames a lava-red crown (darker in males than in females). Forages on the densely-vegetated floor of forests from the lowlands up into montane regions, often in gorges, in ravines, and near streams. Song is a liquid ‘cho’mew-wit!’, with a clipped-sounding last note.