The nominate race P. v. versicolor is found in the rest of Queensland and southward to the Hunter River in New South Wales.

[7] Juvenile birds resembled adults but are duller, with olive green on the wings and the buffy breast washed with grey, as is the throat and chin.

The chestnut feathers of the crown are tipped with black and the lesser wing coverts lack any blue.

Its breeding range extends from the Torres Strait Islands and the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula southwards to the New South Wales/Victoria border.

[7][10] The noisy pitta is a bird of the forest floor where it rummages through the leaf litter for the insects, woodlice, snails and other invertebrates on which it feeds.

Its diet includes some fruit and it cracks open the shells of molluscs such as the giant panda snail (Hedleyella falconeri) on an anvil, a stone or other hard surface habitually used for this purpose.

The breeding season peaks in late spring and early summer, although the timing varies by location.

In the southern part of its range (northern New South Wales and southern Queensland) eggs are laid between July and February with a peak in November, whereas around Cape York the season is more tightly from November to February with a peak in January.

Typically the earlier breeding records of southern birds fall in years with higher than average rainfall.

Timing the breeding in this way ensures that the maximum amount of food is available for fledglings when they become independent, and may also help ground nesting birds avoid losing clutches to flooding.

[5] The nest is made from branches and twigs, roots, plant fibres, mosses, strips of bark and feathers.

[13] The noisy pitta has a wide range and is believed to be fairly common in suitable habitats in Queensland.

It may be diminishing slightly in number because of habitat destruction but probably not at a rate high enough to justify raising its status to "Near Threatened".