Scientific Name: Pitta sordida
English Name: Hooded Pitta
Observed in: Tampines, Jurong West
Local Status: Uncommon migrant
Observed Timing: Dec-21, Jan-23
当地に赴任して間もない2021年の11月。Hindhede Nature Parkを訪れたその日、早朝から長蛇の列が公園口にできあがっていた。
パンデミックで入場制限でもかかっているのかと並んでみると、実はFairy Pittaを目的にBirderが大挙して押し寄せていたのであった。Pittaという鳥を認識したのはその時であった。
その後もJurong Lake GardenにBlue-winged Pittaが長らく目撃されているなどしていたが、どういうわけか機会を逃し続け、私にとって漸く初見のお目見えとなった当科が当種となったのである。
想像していたよりも一回り大きいが、ペンギンを彷彿とさせるフォルムや動きが卑怯なまでに愛らしい。東南アジアに数種が分布しており、そのどれもが選ばれしスターバード然とした美しい鳥だ。
It was November 2021, not long after I had relocated here. When I visited Hindhede Nature Park that day, I found a long line of people forming at the entrance early in the morning.
Thinking it might be due to pandemic-related entry restrictions, I joined the queue—only to discover that a large crowd of birders had gathered for one reason: a Fairy Pitta. That was the moment I first became aware of a bird called a “pitta.”
Since then, there had been long-running reports of a Blue-winged Pitta at Jurong Lake Gardens and other places, but for some reason, I kept missing my chances. Eventually, it was this species—my long-awaited first pitta—that finally gave me my first proper encounter with the family.
Slightly larger than I had imagined, its shape and movements were almost penguin-like—so charming it felt almost unfair. Several pitta species are found across Southeast Asia, and every one of them is a true star bird—strikingly beautiful and unforgettable.