Pittas in captivity

GerbenElzinga

GerbenElzinga

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
Following suit on our previous threads I have been working on a list for another family of wonderful birds in captivity, namely Pittas (thanks to @LaughingDove for the idea!).

A couple thoughts beforehand:
1) Because we had to draw the line somewhere, we decided to use no information older than 5 years (so only things posted from 2012 onwards) upon making this list; we did this to keep the list as accurate and up-to-date as possible.
2) To make this list we used information from zootierliste, zoochat, visits to the respective zoos, and occasionally other sources (facebook pages of the collections, visits of friends to the respective zoos, etc.)
3) There are probably some more pittas in less-visited collections, but it is very hard to find a lot of information about them online.
4) Anyone is more than welcome to mention things that need to be altered/updated on this list!


PITTAS IN CAPTIVITY
Pitta
Rainbow pitta, Pitta iris (1)
OCEANIA:
Australia Zoo (x,x)

Banded pitta, Pitta guajana (2)
EUROPE:
Waddesdon (x,x)

ASIA:
Bali Bird Park (x,x)

Blue-winged pitta, Pitta moluccensis (6)
EUROPE:
Vorobji (x,x)
Vienna (2,2)
Walsrode (x,x)

ASIA:
Jurong (x,x)
Penang Bird Park (x,x)
Taiping (x,x)

Hooded pitta, Pitta sordida (13)
EUROPE:
Arnhem(x,x) mulleri
London (0,2) mulleri
Paignton (x,x) mulleri
Prague (1,0) mulleri
Trinity (x,x) mulleri
Waddesdon (x,x) mulleri
Wuppertal (x,x) mulleri

NORTH AMERICA:
Colombus (x,x)
Detroit (x,x)
Memphis (x,x)
Miami (x,x)
San Diego Zoo (x,x)

ASIA:
Jurong (x,x)

Noisy pitta, Pitta versicolor (2)
OCEANIA:
Adelaide (x,x)
Taronga Zoo (x,x)
 
GerbenElzinga said:
Rainbow pitta, Pitta iris (1)
OCEANIA:
Australia Zoo (x,x)
Click to expand...
Australia Zoo hasn't had Rainbow Pittas for at least six or seven years. (I know they are listed on their website as "currently on display" but their website is rubbish). The last ZAA facility to hold them was the Territory Wildlife Park and that was a couple of years ago. They are kept in private aviculture so are probably in some non-ZAA parks but I don't have data for those.

GerbenElzinga said:
Noisy pitta, Pitta versicolor (2)
OCEANIA:
Adelaide (x,x)
Taronga Zoo (x,x)
Click to expand...
Noisy Pittas are at Adelaide, Australia Zoo, Australian Reptile Park, Ballarat, Cairns Wildlife Dome, Currumbin, Darling Downs, Featherdale, Gorge, Hunter Valley, Melbourne, National Zoo, Taronga, WILDLIFE Sydney, and Wildlife Habitat. Those are just the ZAA collections.
 
And a VERY old note about the breeding of the Hooded pitta at Cleres ( France ) :

Notes on the small birds in the Tropical House at Clères. July, 1933. (Series IV), Vol. XI, 179 - 181.

'Although many species of Pittas have been introduced into Europe during the last twenty years... none had so far bred or even nested in captivity'.

* * *

'... it is almost impossible to keep two together, even in a large aviary and cock and hen of the same species, and this has been the principle obstacle to their breeding in confinement'.

* * *

'In the early spring of 1933, however, I succeeded in keeping together two Hooded Pittas Pitta cucullata. A species which is often imported from India ...'

* * *

'Both parents fed the chicks mostly on cut-up Bullock's heart, with meal-worms, a few earth-worms and insectile mixture... On 24th May one young one disappeared and was never found.

'...the growth of the youngsters was very quick. They came out more and more on the platform now, so much so that on the 31st one was out of the nest flying well enough. The weaker one also came out, but ... was drowned on 5th June, after having been flying well for several days. Both parents fed the remaining young bird devotedly, and did not abandon and bully it as I had feared, as the mother had started laying again in the old nest on the 31st, while the cock began another nest, further away ... the hen laid every day, as many as ten eggs, by 12th Jnne. She insisted on laying in the old nest, and all but one egg dropped on the ground ... The cock had by then completed the new nest and would not go to the old one again. The birds were not sitting. On 13th June I removed the old nest and put eight eggs into the new one (I thought ten were too many). Very docile, the hen went to the new nest and incubation started immediately. Two eggs, probably addled, were rejected after a few days. At the same time, both parents continued feeding their first young, now quite strong, and eating also by himself since 12th June. However, on the 21st, I took him by hand (he is very tame) and removed him into another compartment, where he now lives happily.'

* * *

'On 23rd June the head of a chick was observed, and four the following day. At once a platform was built in front of the nest.

'On 11th July, on my return from the Ornithological Congress at Oxford, the four young Pittas were out of the nest, and they all have been fully reared.

'But we now come to the sad end of the story, and we shall see that, like the Thrushes, Pittas have the most wicked and puzzling temper.

'As soon as the young ones had left the nest, the cock Pitta, whose plumage, and especially the quills, were in a very worn state, started at once building another nest ... [which] by 15th July ... was almost completed. I noticed that day there was a fight between the two parents, but I thought it was only, as usual, an introduction to their mating, and paid little attention to it. The next day the hen was chasing the cock, who kept hidden most of the time, and I decided to keep a special watch... I went into the greenhouse every hour or so, to see how matters were going on; it was very much the same. But at the end of the day the male was found dead in the pond!

'... The hen has not laid up to now ... She carried on feeding the young ones and still is looking after them most devotedly to this day...'

Breeding the Hooded Pitta Pitta cucullata. September, 1934. (Series IV), Vol. XII, 222 - 226.
 
@Hyak_II & @jayjds2, thanks, they're added to the list.

@Chlidonias, ah, didn't know that about the website of Australia Zoo. As for the noisy pitta, that's quite a list of zoos I left out. They're all added to the list!

@vogelcommando, that are some interesting articles you found there, nice to read!


I've updated the pitta list as there were already quite some (big) changes. I've also made a small list of rare species that were kept not too long ago.

PITTAS IN CAPTIVITY
Banded pitta, Pitta guajana (2)
EUROPE:
Waddesdon (x,x)

ASIA:
Bali Bird Park (x,x)

Blue-winged pitta, Pitta moluccensis (7)
EUROPE:
Vorobji (x,x)
Vienna (2,2)
Walsrode (x,x)

NORTH AMERICA:
San Diego Zoo (x,x)

ASIA:
Jurong (x,x)
Penang Bird Park (x,x)
Taiping (x,x)

Hooded pitta, Pitta sordida (15)
EUROPE:
Arnhem(0,0,1) mulleri
London (0,2) mulleri
Paignton (x,x) mulleri
Prague (1,0) mulleri
Trinity (x,x) mulleri
Waddesdon (x,x) mulleri
Wuppertal (x,x) mulleri

NORTH AMERICA:
Colombus (x,x)
Detroit (x,x)
Memphis (x,x)
Miami (1,1)
National Aviary (x,x)
San Diego Zoo (x,x)

ASIA:
Jurong (x,x)

OCEANIA:
Honolulu (x,x)

Noisy pitta, Pitta versicolor (15)
OCEANIA:
Adelaide (x,x)
Australia Zoo (x,x)
Australia Reptile Zoo (x,x)
Ballarat (x,x)
Cairns WD (x,x)
Currumbin (x,x)
Darling Downs (x,x)
Featherdale (x,x)
Gorge WP (x,x)
Hunter Valley (x,x)
Melbourne (x,x)
National Zoo (x,x)
Taronga Zoo (x,x)
Wildlife Sidney (x,x)
Wildlife Habitat (x,x)


PITTAS FORMERLY IN CAPTIVITY
Pitta
Indian pitta, Pitta brachyura (1)
ASIA:
Dehiwala Zoo (x,x) (2008)

Banded pitta, Pitta guajana (1)
EUROPE:
Walsrode (x,x) guajana (2013)

Rainbow pitta, Pitta iris (2)
OCEANIA:
Australia Zoo (x,x) (2010)
Crocosaurus Cove (x,x) (2008)



 
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Hooded pitta in Arnhem are down to 1 individual, which is a pity, as until a few years ago they had several breeding pairs...
 
GerbenElzinga said:
PITTAS FORMERLY IN CAPTIVITY
Pitta
Indian pitta, Pitta brachyura (1)
ASIA:
Dehiwala Zoo (x,x) (2008)

Banded pitta, Pitta guajana (1)
EUROPE:
Walsrode (x,x) guajana (2013)

Rainbow pitta, Pitta iris (2)
OCEANIA:
Australia Zoo (x,x) (2010)
Crocosaurus Cove (x,x) (2008)
Click to expand...
where did the info for Crocosaurus Cove come from? They only opened in 2008 and I don't think they ever had birds. (They may have done, but it's an indoor reptile collection so it seems to be outside their scope).
 
KL bird park also had blue-winged pittas when I visited in 2013, and Jurong's hooded pittas are of ssp. cucullata - as was Dusit's but I didn't see Dusit's bird last year.

For the 'former' list:

Walsrode also held giant pitta, and Pata Zoo (Bangkok) had a mangrove pitta on display until 2013. Shanghai appears to have had a fairy pitta photographed in recent years by @alexkant but I've not heard from anyone who's seen it recently.(http://zooinstitutes.com/animalpic.asp?name=16149 - was this a 2012 photo, Alex?)
 
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Kochi zoo seems to have fairy pitta but are put off display because of "physical condition"(I just translate it with Google translate)
 
Took the time to make a little list of species I've taken care for ( all at Vogelpark Walsrode ) :

-Javan banded pitta - Pitta guajanus
-Hooded pitta - Pitta sordida
-Blue-winged pitta - Pitta moluccensis
-Indian pitta - Pitta brachyura
-Giant pitta - Pitta caeruleus
-Eared pitta - Pitta phayrei

Took care of these in the period 1986 - 1989 and they were kept in a number of different enclosures in the Tropical House, the Loriatrium and behind the scenes.

Collegue keepers also told me that befor that period also other species were kept at Walsrode of which the Granat pitta - Pitta granatina and the Gurney's pitta - Pitta gurneyi are the most mentionworth !
 
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