Shrikebill

Shrikebills
Black-throated shrikebill
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Monarchidae
Genus:	Clytorhynchus Elliot, 1870
Type species
Clytorhynchus pachycephaloides [1] Elliot, 1870
Diversity
5 species
Synonyms
Pinarolestes Sharpe, 1877

The shrikebills are the monarch flycatcher genus Clytorhynchus. The five species have long laterally compressed bills similar to true shrikes that give them their names. The genus is endemic to the islands of Melanesia and western Polynesia. ^[2]

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. ^[2] Their diet may also include small fruits and lizards.

Taxonomy and systematics

Extant species

The genus Clytorhynchus contains the following species: ^[3]

Image	Common name	Scientific name	Distribution
	Southern shrikebill	Clytorhynchus pachycephaloides	New Caledonia and Vanuatu.
	Fiji shrikebill	Clytorhynchus vitiensis	American Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga.
	Black-throated shrikebill	Clytorhynchus nigrogularis	Fiji and Solomon Islands.
	Santa Cruz shrikebill	Clytorhynchus sanctaecrucis	Solomon Islands.
	Rennell shrikebill	Clytorhynchus hamlini	Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands. I

Former species

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

• Sangihe whistler (as Pinarolestes sanghirensis) ^[4]
• Little shrikethrush (as Pinarolestes megarhynchos or Pinarolestes megarhynchus) ^[5]

References

1. "Monarchidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
2. Duston, Guy (2006). "The Pacific shrikebills (Clytorhynchus) and the case for species status for the form sanctaecrucis" (PDF). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 126 (4): 299–308. Archived from the original on 2009-01-05.
3. "IOC World Bird List 6.4". IOC World Bird List Datasets. doi: 10.14344/ioc.ml.6.4 .
4. "Coracornis sanghirensis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-29.
5. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum: Passeriformes, or perching birds. Coliomorphœ, containing the families Corridœ, Paradiseidœ, Oriolidœ, Dicruridœ, and Prionopidœ, by R.B. Sharpe. order of the Trustees. 1877-01-01.