View Coraciiformes Tree

Phylogenetic hypothesis taken from Hackett et al. (2008)

Several families traditionally assigned to Coraciiformes have been removed from the order. Bucerotidae and Bucorvidae (hornbills), Upupidae and Phoeniculidae (hoopoes) have been given their own order, Bucerotiformes. Leptosomus (cuckoo roller) is not a roller, and is only distantly related to other traditional coraciiforms. An order that included all these groups would also have to encompass Piciformes and Trogoniformes.

Eyes manage glare: kingfishers
 

Red droplets in the cone cells of kingfisher eyes may allow sight through water or glare by acting as chromatic filters.

     
  "Kingfishers have specialized eyes and excellent eyesight. The retina of each eye has two fovea. The cone cells have a high proportion of red droplets, which may act as chromatic filters, allowing sight through the surface of the water." (Fowler and Miller 2003: 254)
  Learn more about this functional adaptation.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
                                        

Specimen Records:	636	Public Records:	240
Specimens with Sequences:	419	Public Species:	57
Specimens with Barcodes:	370	Public BINs:	63
Species:	97
Species With Barcodes:	71

Access Published & Released Data: Download FASTA File

Collection Sites: world map showing specimen collection locations for Coraciiformes