Family Brachypteraciidae

Ground-rollers

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General

Medium-sized terrestrial birds with full tail, short wings, and stout bill and legs.
Madagascar.
Tropical and subtropical rainforest and sub-arid thorn-scrub.

24-47 cm.

4 genera, 5 species, 5 taxa.

3 species threatened;
none extinct since 1600.

Systematics

The Coraciiformes are apparently a heterogeneous assemblage, with only a few families that are thought to be directly related to each other. Taxonomic work based on skeletal characters, by J. Cracraft in 1971 and by P. J. K. Burton in 1984, showed, however, that the ground-rollers (...

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Morphological Aspects

The ground-rollers are typified by their mostly terrestrial lifestyle and monomorphic plumage. They are generally stout-bodied birds, 25-47 cm in length, with a large head, big eyes, stout bill, short wings, and relatively long, sturdy...

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Habitat

All five of the ground-rollers inhabit undisturbed or only slightly disturbed native forest in Madagascar, at elevations ranging from sea-level to 2000 m. Four of the five species, the Short-legged, Scaly, Pitta-like and Rufous-headed Ground-rollers, are found almost exclusively in the...

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General Habits

In the words of one author, all ground-rollers are “frustratingly furtive, shy, skulking and elusive” birds, and their retiring habits are one reason for the paucity of studies on their natural history. Nevertheless, a relatively large amount of detail has been added in recent years through...

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Voice

Ground-rollers utter a variety of calls, the most distinctive of which are the far-carrying territorial calls. The latter are heard almost exclusively before and during the breeding season, usually from September to February. As these...

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Food and Feeding

Four of the five ground-roller species are almost exclusively ground-foragers that search in leaf litter for invertebrates and small vertebrates. The exception is the Short-legged Ground-roller, which prefers to...

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Breeding

For most of the year the ground-rollers are generally solitary, but they form pairs during the breeding season. They appear to be socially monogamous. At least during the breeding season, which extends from September to February, they defend territories, and individuals spend much time...

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Movements

On the basis of current information, all five ground-roller species are sedentary, and hold stable territories. Knowledge about any possible movements is, however, very rudimentary, since ground-rollers are easy to overlook during the non-breeding season. Reports of the absence of one or more...

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Relationship with Man

Although local inhabitants are quite obviously aware of the presence of ground-rollers, as evidenced by the numerous local names given to them, it is very difficult to determine what influence, if any, these birds have on the human population of Madagascar.

The inconspicuous behaviour...

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Status and Conservation

The impact of man on the Malagasy flora and fauna has been severe. Human hunting and, perhaps, climatic changes probably led to the extinction of several bird species in historical times. At least one species of ground-roller, Brachypteracias langrandi, became extinct after the...

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General Bibliography

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Species list

List of species of the Ground-rollers (Brachypteraciidae) family. Each species provides information on taxonomy, descriptive notes, voice, habitat, food and feeding, breeding, movements, status and conservation and bibliography.

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Family Brachypteraciidae

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Public comments

zygodactyly

Brachypteraciidae are not zygodactyl

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