Coraciiformes

Coraciiformes
Temporal range: Middle Eocene to present
European roller
Coracias garrulus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Picodynastornithes
Order: Coraciiformes
Forbes, 1884
Families

For prehistoric taxa, see text.

Global distribution of the kingfisher and allies.

The Coraciiformes /kɒrəˈs.ɪfɔːrmz/ are a group of usually colourful birds including the kingfishers, the bee-eaters, the rollers, the motmots, and the todies. They generally have syndactyly, with three forward-pointing toes (and toes 3 & 4 fused at their base), though in many kingfishers one of these is missing.[citation needed] The members of this order are linked by their “slamming” behaviour, thrashing their prey onto surfaces to disarm or incapacitate them.[1]

This is largely an Old World order, with the representation in the New World limited to the dozen or so species of todies and motmots, and a mere handful of the more than a hundred species of kingfishers.

The name Coraciiformes means "raven-like". Specifically, it comes from the Latin language "corax", meaning "raven" and Latin "forma", meaning "form".[2]

  1. ^ "Coraciiformes". Britannica. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  2. ^ Terres, John K. (1980). The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds (1st ed.). New York: A. A. Knopf. p. 104. ISBN 0-394-46651-9.