The shrikebills are the

monarch flycatcher The monarchs (family Monarchidae) comprise a family of over 100 passerine birds which includes shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and magpie-larks. Monarchids are small insectivorous songbirds with long tails. They inhabit forest or woodland a ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Clytorhynchus''. The five

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

have long laterally compressed bills similar to true

shrike Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in four genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, ''Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also know ...

s that give them their names. The genus is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the islands of

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...

and western

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

. The shrikebills are insectivorous, and use their large heavy bills to explore tangles of dead leaves and dead wood; an unusual foraging strategy for their family. Their diet may also include small fruits and lizards.

Taxonomy and systematics

Extant species

The genus ''Clytorhynchus'' contains the following species: *

Southern shrikebill The southern shrikebill (''Clytorhynchus pachycephaloides''), or brown flycatcher, is a songbird species in the family Monarchidae. It is found in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. S ...

(''Clytorhynchus pachycephaloides'') *

Fiji shrikebill The Fiji shrikebill (''Clytorhynchus vitiensis'') is a songbird species in the family Monarchidae. It is found in American Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Taxonomy and systematics The ...

(''Clytorhynchus vitiensis'') *

Black-throated shrikebill The black-throated shrikebill or black-faced shrikebill (''Clytorhynchus nigrogularis'') is a songbird species in the family Monarchidae. It is found in Fiji and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland fo ...

(''Clytorhynchus nigrogularis'') *

Santa Cruz shrikebill The Santa Cruz shrikebill (''Clytorhynchus sanctaecrucis''), or Nendo shrikebill, is a songbird species in the family Monarchidae. The Santa Cruz shrikebill was split from the black-throated shrikebill in 2008 but some authorities still consider ...

(''Clytorhynchus sanctaecrucis'') *

Rennell shrikebill The Rennell shrikebill (''Clytorhynchus hamlini'') is a songbird species in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. The binomial comm ...

(''Clytorhynchus hamlini'')

Former species

Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus ''Clytorhynchus'': *

Sangihe whistler The Sangihe whistler or Sangihe shrikethrush (''Coracornis sanghirensis'') is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is endemic to Sangihe Island in Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It ...

(as ''Pinarolestes sanghirensis'') *

Little shrikethrush Little shrikethrush has been split into the following species: * Arafura shrikethrush, ''Colluricincla megarhyncha'' * Variable shrikethrush, ''Colluricincla fortis'' * Waigeo shrikethrush, ''Colluricincla affinis'' * Mamberamo shrikethrush, ' ...

(as ''Pinarolestes megarhynchos'' or ''Pinarolestes megarhynchus'')

References

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Monarchidae-stub