Kingfisher And Ally Families

This group gathers taxon/Bird Families subcategory members that are themselves bird families belonging to the order Coraciiformes, kingfishers, bee-eaters, rollers, hoopoes and hornbills among them, a mostly tropical and subtropical group united chiefly by molecular evidence rather than an obvious shared body plan across every family. Kingfisher families are found on every continent except Antarctica and, despite the name, most species worldwide hunt insects, small reptiles and other prey on land rather than diving for fish as the group's best-known members do, while the hornbills are recognizable for an oversized, often brightly colored bill topped by a bony casque, and several species nest by sealing the female into a tree cavity with mud, leaving only a narrow slit through which the male passes food during incubation. Every family gathered here shares stiff, often short legs and, in most species, a strong, straight or slightly down-curved bill suited to catching agile prey.