Archbold's Newtonia Newtonia archboldi Scientific name definitions

The newtonias are four species of small insectivorous birds, endemic to Madagascar. All species in the genus are generally warbler-like in appearance and behavior, and indeed until recently they were classified in the family Sylviidae, which included many groups of Old World warblers. Genetic evidence reveals, however, that newtonias are members of the vanga family (Vangidae), of which they are the smallest-bodied species. Newtonias occupy forests throughout Madagascar, although Archbold's Newtonia is restricted to southwestern Madagascar; it occurs primarily in spiny forest, but locally, at the margins of its range, it also occurs in degraded deciduous forests, where it overlaps with the more widespread Common Newtonia (N. brunneicauda). Newtonias are frequent members of mixed species flocks, foraging with a variety of other small insectivores, such as jeries (Neomixis), and typically capture prey with gleans. Archbold's Newtonia is dull brown above, and tawny below, with dull rufous feathering around the eye and on the forecrown, and a strikingly pale iris.