Shrikebill
Shrikebills | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Monarchidae |
Genus: | Clytorhynchus Elliot, 1870 |
Diversity | |
4–6 species | |
Synonyms | |
Pinarolestes Sharpe, 1877 |
The shrikebills are the monarch flycatcher genus Clytorhynchus. The four to six species have long laterally compressed bills similar to true shrikes that give them their names. The genus is endemic to the islands of Melanesia and western Polynesia.[1]
The shrikebills are insectivorous, and use their large heavy bills to explore tangles of dead leaves and dead wood; an unusual foraging strategy for their family.[1] Their diet may also include small fruits and lizards.
Species
Clytorhynchus contains the following species:
- Southern shrikebill, Clytorhynchus pachycephaloides
- Fiji shrikebill, Clytorhynchus vitiensis
- Manu'a shrikebill, Clytorhynchus (vitiensis) powelli (possibly extinct: 1990s?)
- Black-throated shrikebill, Clytorhynchus nigrogularis
- Santa Cruz shrikebill or Nendo shrikebill, Clytorhynchus (nigrogularis) sanctaecrucis
- Rennell shrikebill, Clytorhynchus hamlini
References
- 1 2 Duston, Guy (2006). "The Pacific shrikebills (Clytorhynchus) and the case for species status for the form sanctaecrucis" (PDF). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 126 (4): 299–308.
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