The hyliotas are a genus, ''Hyliota'', of

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird from Africa. The taxonomic position of the genus has been a longstanding mystery. They have been formerly regarded as

Old World warbler Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxonomic confusion. Two families were split out initially, the ci ...

s in the family

Sylviidae Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that includes the typical warblers and a number of babblers formerly placed within the Old World babbler family. They are found in Eurasia and Africa. Taxonomy and systematics The scientific name Sylviid ...

, or related to the batises and wattle-eyes in the family

Platysteiridae Platysteiridae is a family of small, stout passerine birds of the African tropics. The family contains the wattle-eyes, batises and shrike-flycatchers. They were previously classed as a subfamily of the Old World flycatchers, Muscicapidae. These ...

, bush-shrikes in the family Malaconotidae, or even Old-World flycatchers in the family

Muscicapidae The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia), with the exception of several vagrants and two species, Bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica)'' and Norther ...

. An analysis of the

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

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. The hyliotas are found in the canopy of broad-leaf forests. They usually do not live in groups but will join

mixed-species feeding flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

s with other species. They are territorial and pairs are monogamous, nesting in camouflaged woven nests.

Species

''Hyliota'' contains the following species: * Southern hyliota (''Hyliota australis'') *

Yellow-bellied hyliota The yellow-bellied hyliota (''Hyliota flavigaster'') is a species of Hyliota. It is found in Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, ...

(''Hyliota flavigaster'') * Usambara hyliota (''Hyliota usambara'') *

Violet-backed hyliota The violet-backed hyliota (''Hyliota violacea'') is a species of Hyliota. It is found in Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Lib ...

(''Hyliota violacea'')

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q431516 Bird genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot