Shrikebill

Shrikebills
Black-throated shrikebill
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Monarchidae
Genus: Clytorhynchus
Elliot, 1870
Type species
Clytorhynchus pachycephaloides[1]
Elliot, 1870
Diversity
5 species
Synonyms

The shrikebills are the monarch flycatcher genus Clytorhynchus. The five 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.[2]

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.[2] Their diet may also include small fruits and lizards.

  1. ^ "Monarchidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. ^ a b 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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-01-05.