Coraciiformes

Woodhoopoes (Phoeniculidae)

HBW 6, p. 412

• Medium-sized arboreal birds, generally black, often iridescent, with or without white in wings and tail; bill forceps-like, usually decurved, specialized for obtaining arthropod prey in fissures and cracks in tree bark.
• Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Wooded habitats, from tropical lowland rainforest to arid bush country.
• 2 genera, 8 species, 24 taxa.
• No species threatened; none extinct since 1600.