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Philepittidae
Sign in to saveThe asities are a family of birds, Philepittidae, that are endemic to Madagascar. The asities consist of four species in two genera. The Neodrepanis species are known as sunbird-asities and were formerly known as false sunbirds.
Species
FAMILY
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassAves
- OrderPasseriformes
- FamilyPhilepittidae
The outer primary feathers make a buzzing sound when asities fly. This buzzing likely has a function in courtship. Males also enlarge their wattles to display to females and other males. All species also seem to have some form of courtship display (see Mating Systems).For the most part, asities have quiet, squeaky calls. Some males have louder whistle calls. Velvet asities (Philepitta castanea) have a repeated “whee-doo” call, or a series of “wheet” notes. Common sunbird-asities (Neodrepanis coruscans) make a series of hisses and single, quiet, squeaky calls. Yellow-bellied sunbird-asities (Neodrepanis hypoxantha) sound like tree frogs with repeated single note calls. Communication Channels: visual ; acoustic Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
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Article
9 sectionsContents
- Description
- Behavior and ecology
- Diet and feeding
- Breeding
- Status and conservation
- Taxonomy and systematics
- Species
- References
- External links
The asities are a family of birds, Philepittidae, that are endemic to Madagascar. The asities consist of four species in two genera. The Neodrepanis species are known as sunbird-asities and were formerly known as false sunbirds.
Philepitta is now the type-genus of a new bird family, the Philepittidae, into which the asities of Madagascar have been placed.