The hyliotas are a genus, Hyliota, of passerine bird from Africa. The taxonomic position of the genus has been a longstanding mystery. They have been formerly regarded as Old World warblers in the family Sylviidae, or related to the batises and wattle-eyes in the family Platysteiridae, bush-shrikes in the family Malaconotidae, or even Old-World flycatchers in the family Muscicapidae. An analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of the genus and possible relatives found they have no close relatives and are basal in the clade Passerida. They are now often regarded as a family in their own right, Hyliotidae.[2]
| Hyliota | |
|---|---|
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| Violet-backed hyliota (Hyliota violacea) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Hyliotidae |
| Genus: | Hyliota Swainson, 1837 |
| Type species | |
| Hyliota flavigaster[1] Swainson, 1837
| |
The hyliotas are found in the canopy of broad-leaf forests. They usually do not live in groups but will join mixed-species feeding flocks with other species. They are territorial and pairs are monogamous, nesting in camouflaged woven nests.
Species
editHyliota contains the following species:
- Southern hyliota (Hyliota australis)
- Yellow-bellied hyliota (Hyliota flavigaster)
- Usambara hyliota (Hyliota usambara)
- Violet-backed hyliota (Hyliota violacea)
References
edit- ^ "Hyliotidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
- ^ Fuchs, Jérôme; et al. (2006). "The African warbler genus Hyliota as a lost lineage in the Oscine songbird tree: Molecular support for an African origin of the Passerida". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 39 (1): 186–197. Bibcode:2006MolPE..39..186F. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.07.020. PMID 16182572.