Pittidae

Pittidae - Passeriformes.

Passeriformes. . Non-Passeriformes.

Superfamilia - Pittoidea

Photo January 31, 2009 by wokoti © all rights reserved	Slideshow courtesy The Friends Of Worldbirds © all rights reserved	Photo by Michael Gillam © all rights reserved

World No	Common Name	Scientific Name	Status	Taxon
3968	Eared Pitta	Anthocincla phayrei	Least Concern	TSN: 711470
3969	Blue-naped Pitta	Hydrornis nipalensis	Least Concern	TSN: 562238
3970	Blue-rumped Pitta	Hydrornis soror	Least Concern	TSN: 562245
3971	Rusty-naped Pitta	Hydrornis oatesi	Least Concern	TSN: 562240
3972	Schneider's Pitta	Hydrornis schneideri	Vulnerable	TSN: 562243
3973	Giant Pitta	Hydrornis caerulea	Near Threatened	TSN: 562224
3974	Blue Pitta	Pitta cyanea	Least Concern	TSN: 562225
3975	Javan Banded Pitta	Hydrornis guajana	Least Concern	TSN: 711668 -
	Malayan banded pitta	Hydrornis irena	Near Threatened	TSN: 711669
	Bornean banded pitta	Hydrornis schwaneri	Least Concern	TSN: 711671
3976	Bar-bellied Pitta	Pitta elliotii	Least Concern	TSN: 562228
3977	Gurney's Pitta	Pitta gurneyi	Endangered	TSN: 562232
3978	Blue-headed Pitta	Pitta baudii	Vulnerable	TSN: 562222
3979	Hooded Pitta	Pitta sordida	Least Concern	TSN: 562244 -
3980	Ivory-breasted Pitta	Pitta maxima	Least Concern	TSN: 562235
3981	Superb Pitta	Pitta superba	Endangered	TSN: 562247
3982	Azure-breasted Pitta	Pitta steerii	Vulnerable	TSN: 562246
3983	Whiskered Pitta	Pitta kochi	Least Concern	TSN: 562234
	Sulawesi Pitta	Pitta celebensis	No Data	TSN: 711675
3984	Red-bellied Pitta	Pitta erythrogaster	Least Concern	NR
	Papuan Pitta	Pitta macklotii	No data	NR
3985	Sula Pitta	Pitta dohertyi	Near Threatened	TSN: 711678
3986	Blue-banded Pitta	Pitta arcuata	Least Concern	TSN: 711471
3987	Garnet Pitta	Pitta granatina	Near Threatened	TSN: 711699
3988	Black-crowned Pitta	Pitta venusta	Vulnerable	TSN: 562248
3989	African Pitta	Pitta angolensis	Least concern	TSN: 562220
3990	Green-breasted Pitta	Pitta reichenowi	Least concern	TSN: 562242
3991	Indian Pitta	Pitta brachyura	Least concern	TSN: 562223
3992	Fairy Pitta	Pitta nympha	Vulnerable	TSN: 562239
3993	Blue-winged Pitta	Pitta moluccensis	Least concern	TSN: 562237
3994	Mangrove Pitta	Pitta megarhyncha	Near Threatened	TSN: 562236
3995	Elegant Pitta	Pitta elegans	Least concern	TSN: 711721
3996	Rainbow Pitta	Pitta iris	Least concern	TSN: 562233
3997	Noisy Pitta	Pitta versicolor	Least concern	TSN: 562249
3998	Black-faced Pitta	Pitta anerythra	Least concern	TSN: 562219
	Black-and-crimson Pitta	Pitta ussheri	Near Threatened	TSN: 711700

Video by Cole Onyx © all rights reserved

What type of person could do this.

Blue crane massacre

February 16 2015 at 07:27pm
By Norma Wildenboer Comment on this story

Kimberley - In a massive blow to the population of South Africa’s national bird, between 200 and a thousand blue cranes have been poisoned, allegedly by a well-known Northern Cape farmer.

The farmer, from the Richmond district in the Northern Cape, allegedly poisoned the birds over a period of three years since 2012.

While his reasons for the alleged poisonings are still unclear, the birds were apparently attracted to newly planted fields and pivots on his farm, which is designated as a sheep and cattle farm, further raising the possible contravention of land use and irrigation development laws by the farmer.

Neighbours on Monday said the “illegal” irrigation pivot went into operation in 2012, when the first carcasses were found. It now appears as if the poisoning continued until recently.

According to reports, farm workers were instructed to dip corn in a poison called Temic, also known as “Two Step” or Aldicarb, to deliberately poison the birds. The workers then had to collect the carcasses of the dead birds and bury them in porcupine and aardvark holes.

While the total number of carcasses found is believed to be around 200, sources on Monday revealed that the number might be closer to a thousand.

Some of the carcasses that were discovered after the alleged poisoning. Picture: SuppliedDiamond Fields Advertiser

The owner of the farm could face a myriad of charges if found guilty of deliberate poisoning, including contravening animal protection, nature conservation, environmental management, land use and poison management legislation, which includes the Northern Cape Provincial Conservation Act and the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act.

Dr Gerhard Verdoorn, who was on Monday busy with the investigation into the alleged “mass murders” of the national bird, said he would be conducting toxicology reports on some of the carcasses to determine what poison was used to kill the birds.

“I don’t want to believe that this is true but all evidence so far points to the fact that hundreds of blue cranes were deliberately poisoned,” Verdoorn said.

He said that the misuse of any form of Aldicarb (registered in South Africa by Bayer Crop Science until 2012) was a serious crime under the Fertilizers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act.

“It is prohibited to use any insecticide for any other use than what is indicated on the label. On the label there is no indication for its use on birds and such action therefore makes it a criminal offence,” Verdoorn said.

He further stated that the poisoning of any animal without a permit was in contravention of nature conservation laws in all provinces.

He requested that any information that could assist in the investigation be relayed to him on 082 446 8946.

Various agricultural and environmental groups on Monday condemned the alleged incident and expressed disappointment at the “cruel and deliberate mass murder” of the blue cranes.

Agri Northern Cape on Monday said it regretted the unfortunate loss of the blue cranes and “condemned in the strongest terms possible the illegal killing of any wildlife”.

A concerned resident from the Richmond area said on Monday that the incident impacted “substantially” on the conservation of blue cranes in the Northern Cape because the area had one of the largest number of blue cranes in their natural habitat in the world.

“This grouping was one of the largest in a single area. It is a serious blow to the blue crane population as there are less blue cranes left than there are rhinos. Around 20 years ago there were about 100 000 and today there are less than 20 000,” the resident said.

The blue crane (Anthropoides paradiseus) is currently listed as vulnerable in the Eskom Red Data Book of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland and the 2010 International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)’s Red List.

The central Karoo population of the south-eastern region of the Northern Cape is one of South Africa’s three blue crane strongholds.

No expense should be spared solving this heinous crime. Harsh penalties should be handed out. 

They are fabulous birds and this is an awful tragedy. 

http://worldbirds.eu/abcb/blue_crane.htm