All species › Sunbittern and Kagu
Sunbittern and Kagu | Eurypygiformes
Zonneralachtigen | Euripigiformes
A small order of two families with a single species each, living far apart: the Sunbittern in the forests of tropical America and the Kagu on New Caledonia. For a long time both were placed among the cranes and rails, but DNA studies showed that they are each other's closest relatives and form a branch of their own, which in turn stands close to the tropicbirds. Outwardly they have little in common, yet they share a set of features: a long neck and bill, fairly long legs, soft and subtly patterned plumage, and wings that reveal bold patterns when spread, hidden at rest and suddenly opened in threat or display. Both find their food on foot, stalking on the ground or in shallow water and striking quickly at small animals. Clutches are small and the young stay dependent on their parents for a long time. In Mexico and Central America the order is represented only by the Sunbittern, the sole species of the family Eurypygidae, which lives along forested streams and rivers from southern Mexico to Panama.
Families in this order
- Sunbittern | Eurypygidae1 speciesA family with a single species, the Sunbittern, which lives in the south of the region along streams and rivers in humid forest, from the lowlands into the foothills. Its closest relative is the Kagu of New Caledonia; together they form an order of their own, far removed from the herons and rails with which they were once grouped. It is a slender bird carried horizontally, with a long neck, a straight dagger-like bill, rather short orange legs and a broad tail. At rest the plumage is a finely barred mosaic of brown, grey and black, but when wings and tail are spread large chestnut and yellow patches appear that stare forward like a pair of eyes; the display serves both in courtship and to deter predators. Stalking slowly and patiently along the water's edge, the Sunbittern catches fish, insects, crustaceans and frogs with a quick thrust of the bill. The call is a high, thin whistle. The nest is a mound of mud and plant material on a branch over or near water, and both parents incubate the usual clutch of two eggs.