Asities
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The asities are a family of small suboscine passerine bird species found in Madagascar. They were thought to have been related to the pittas, hence the scientific name, but a study by Prum (1993) suggested that they are actually just a subfamily of broadbills. Here they are considered traditionally as a separate family.
These are plump strong-legged birds of the Malagasy forests which take fruit and insects and nest in trees or scrub. The Neodrepanis species — sunbird-asities — will take nectar, and were formerly known as false sunbirds.
- Family: Philepittidae
- Velvet Asity, Philepitta castanea
- Schlegel's Asity, Philepitta schlegeli
- Common Sunbird-asity, Neodrepanis coruscans
- Yellow-bellied Sunbird-Asity, Neodrepanis hypoxanthus
[edit] Reference
Prum, R. 0. 1993. Phylogeny, biogeography, and evolution of the broadbills (Eurylaimidae) and asities (Philepittidae) based on morphology. Auk 110:304-324.
[edit] External links
- Asities videos on the Internet Bird Collection
