Sapayoa | Sapayoidae

Sapayoa's | Sapayoas

A family of a single species, the Sapayoa, which in the region occurs only in eastern Panama, in the understory of humid lowland forest, often along streams and in shady ravines. It was long placed with the manakins, but it turns out to be the only American member of a group otherwise confined to the Old World, which includes the broadbills of Africa and Asia and the asities of Madagascar; it is therefore regarded as a living relic of an ancient distribution. In appearance it is unremarkable: a medium-sized, olive-green songbird with a slightly yellower belly, a fairly broad, flat bill and, in the male, a concealed yellow crown patch. It perches quietly and upright on low branches and makes short sallies to pick insects and spiders from leaves, and it also eats small fruit. It often moves with mixed flocks in the understory. The voice is inconspicuous and little known. The nest is a pear-shaped hanging structure of plant fibres suspended over a stream, like those built by broadbills.