The Eurylaimidae are a family of
suboscine passerine birds that occur from the eastern
Himalayas to
Indonesia and the
Philippines.
The family previously included the
sapayoa from the
Neotropics, the
asities from
Madagascar, and the
Calyptomenidae from Africa and Asia, but these are now separated into distinct families.
Description
Many of the species are brightly coloured birds that present broad heads, large eyes and a hooked, flat and broad beak. They range from 13 to 28 centimetres in length, and live in the dense canopies of wet forests, allowing them to hide despite their brightly coloured plumage.
The plumage of the juvenile eurylaimids are similar to those of the adults, differing in being duller and shorter-winged and shorter-tailed in some cases.
Behaviour and ecology
They are for the most part insectivorous and carnivorous. Prey taken includes
insects,
spiders,
centipede
Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , " foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an ...
s, and
millipedes, as well as
lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
s and
tree frogs. Prey is obtained by sallying from a perch to snatch it in flight, and gleaning the prey off leaves and branches while flying. Some species may take some fruit, but only the green broadbills of the genus ''
Calyptomena'' and the
Grauer's broadbill are primarily frugivores (which also take some insects).
They are generally gregarious, with many species moving about in flocks of about 20 individuals. They attach their purse-shaped nests to suspended vines, and leave a tail of fibres hanging below it. This gives the nest the appearance of being random debris caught in the tree, an effect further enhanced by the birds covering the nest with lichen and spider webs.
[ Broadbills typically lay two to three eggs.
]
Taxonomy and systematics
The family Eurylaimidae was introduced in 1831 (as Eurylaimes) by the French naturalist René Lesson
René-Primevère Lesson (20 March 1794 – 28 April 1849) was a French surgeon, naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist.
Biography
Lesson was born at Rochefort, and entered the Naval Medical School in Rochefort at the age of sixteen. He ...
. A study by Carl Oliveros and colleagues published in 2019 determined the phylogenetic relationships of the Eurylaimidae to other families in the Eurylaimides (Old World suboscines):
Notes
References
External links
Broadbill videos
on the Internet Bird Collection
{{Taxonbar, from=Q214621
Tyranni
Bird families
Taxa named by René Lesson