Editing Pitta (section)

==Distribution and habitat==
The pittas are generally birds of tropical forests, semi-forests and scrub. Most species need forests with much cover, a rich understory, and leaf litter for feeding, and they are often found near waterways as well. Some species inhabit swamps and bamboo forests,<ref name = "HBW"/> and the [[mangrove pitta]], as its name suggests, is a [[mangrove]] specialist.<ref name="singapore">{{cite journal|last=Lok|first=A.|author2=Khor, K.|author3=Lim, K.|author4=R. Subaraj|title=Pittas (Pittidae) of Singapore|journal=Nature in Singapore|year=2009|volume=2|pages=155–165|url=http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/nis/bulletin2009/2009nis155-165.pdf|access-date=2011-01-23|archive-date=2014-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125012454/http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/nis/bulletin2009/2009nis155-165.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Several species are lowland forest specialists. For example, the [[rainbow pitta]] is not found above {{convert|400|m|ft|abbr=on}}. Other species may occur at much higher elevations, including, for example, the rusty-naped pitta, which has been found up to {{convert|2600|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The altitudinal preferences varies in the [[fairy pitta]] across its range, it can be found up to {{convert|1300|m|ft|abbr=on}} in [[Taiwan]] but stays at lower altitudes in [[Japan]].<ref name = "HBW"/> As well as natural habitats, pittas may use human-altered spaces. For example, migrating [[blue-winged pitta]]s and [[hooded pitta]]s use parks and urban gardens in [[Singapore]].<ref name="singapore"/>
[[File:Fairy Pitta 3952, crop.jpg|thumb|left|alt=White bird with red belly stands in dried river bed with smooth boulders|The [[fairy pitta]] migrates from Korea, Japan, Taiwan and coastal China to Borneo]]
The greatest diversity of pittas is found in South-east Asia. Of the three genera, the large genus ''Pitta'' is the most widespread. The two species found in Africa, the [[African pitta]] and [[green-breasted pitta]], are from this clade, as is the most northerly species (the fairy pitta) and the most southerly (the noisy pitta, ''[[Pitta versicolor]]''). The most remote insular endemics are in this group as well, including the [[black-faced pitta]], which is endemic to the [[Solomon Islands]]. The pittas of the clade ''Erythropitta'' are mostly found in Asia. with one species, the [[Papuan pitta]], reaching the north of Australia. The ''Hydrornis'' pittas are exclusively Asian.<ref name = "HBW"/><ref name ="Irestedt"/> Some pittas have large distributions, like the hooded pitta, which ranges from Nepal to New Guinea, while others have much smaller ones, like the [[superb pitta]], which is endemic to the tiny island of [[Manus Island|Manus]] in the [[Admiralty Islands]].<ref name = "HBW"/><ref name=superb>{{cite web|author=BirdLife International|author-link=BirdLife International |title=Species factsheet: ''Pitta superba''|url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=4007 |work= Data Zone|publisher=BirdLife International|access-date=24 January 2011}}</ref>

The movements of pittas are poorly known and notoriously difficult to study.{{sfn|Erritzoe|Erritzoe|1998|p=21}} [[Bird ringing]] studies have not shed much light on this. One study in the [[Philippines]] ringed 2000 red-bellied pittas but only recaptured ten birds, and only one of these recaptures was more than two months after the initial capture. Only four species of pitta are fully or mostly [[bird migration|migratory]], all in the genus ''Pitta'': the Indian pitta, the African pitta, the fairy pitta and the blue-winged pitta. As well as these four, the northern subspecies of the hooded pitta is a full migrant. Other species make smaller or more local, and poorly understood, movements across small parts of their range,<ref name = "HBW"/> including the noisy pitta of Australia.<ref name="noisy pitta"/> The migration of pittas is apparently nocturnal, and pittas migrate in small loose flocks that use the same resting and foraging sites each year.{{sfn|Erritzoe|Erritzoe|1998|p=22}}