Ground-probersBill longer than typical insectivore, decurved, sharply pointed. Ground-probers typically

have plain backs that match substrate.

Mimidae: Toxostoma: 7 species

Furnariidae: Upucerthia, Ochetorhynchus: 8 species

Alaudidae: Alaemon: 2 species

Upupidae: 1 species

Two orders, at least 4 families; at least 18 species

Bark-probersLike Ground-probers, but back typically with some streaks. Toes and tail

often show climbing adaptations, as in these specialized climbers.

Dendrocolaptidae: woodcreepers ;ca. 50 species

Certhiidae: 8 species

Bark-probersLike Ground-probers, but back typically with some streaks. This set of birds are not as specialized for climbing as the Dendrocolaptidae and

Certhiidae – their toes have extra-dtrong and curved toenails, but their tails are not specilaized for bracing against a branch.

Phoeniculidae: wood-hoopoes, 8 species

Fringillidae: Hemignathus; ca. 4 species

Paradisaeidae: Epimachus, 2 species

Vangidae: Falculea, 1 species

Two orders, at least 6 families; at least 70 species

Mud-probers

Bill very long, typically rather blunt at tip. Legs long for wading.

Ibidorhynchidae: Ibisbill, 1 species

Scolopacidae:, ca. 85 species

Mud-probersBill very long, typically rather blunt at tip. Legs long for wading.

Rostratulidae: painted-snipes, 2 species Rallidae: ca. 50 species

Threskiornithidae: 30 species Apterygidae: kiwis, 3 species Aramidae: Limpkin, 1 species

Four orders, at least 7 families; at least 170 species

Flower-probers

Philepittidae: Neodrepanis, 2 speciesMeliphagidae: honeyeaters, ca. 30 species

Nectariniidae: sunbirds, ca. 125 species

Fringillidae: Vestiaria, 1 species Although most flower-probers are brightly colored, some that are not territorial are dull – you won’t be tested on a dull one.

8 families, ca. 500 species

Flower-probers

Thraupidae: Cyanerpes, Chlorophanes, 4 species

Trochilidae: ca. 330 species

Promeropidae: sugarbirds, 2 species

Mohoidae: O’os, 5 species (Hawaii; extinct)

Fish-eaters – dagger shape

Alcidae: murres and guillemots, 5 speciesAnhingidae: 3 species

Podicipedidae: 20 species Gaviidae: 5 species

The species in these 4 groups catch fish using underwater, mostly by pursuit.

Fish-eaters – dagger shape

Ardeidae: 65 species

Alcedinidae: ca. 25 species

Ciconiidae: ca. 15 species

Phaethontidae: tropicbirds, 3 species

Laridae: terns, ca. 40 species

Herons and storks ambush fish by stalking from shore; kingfishers dive-bomb them from perches (although a couple of species also do it while hovering in flight).

Terns and tropicbirds dive-bomb fish from the air.

Note: there are a number of fish-eaters that you will not be tested on that have bills that are basically dagger-shaped but are slightly decurved at the tip, but not really hooked: boobies, gannets, some storks, some terns, some penguins.

Most kingfishers don’t eat fish but instead are landbirds that eat large insect and small vertebrates; these species are all in the Afrotropics, Indomalayan, and Australasian (e.g., Kookabura) regions, and their bills differ subtly from those of fish-eating kingfishers.

8 orders, 9 families, ca. 180 species

Fish-eaters – hooked

Anatidae: mergansers, 5 species

Phalacrocoracidae: 36 species

Fregatidae: 5 speciesProcellariidae: ca. 20 species Diomedeidae: albatrosses, 15

species

3 orders, 4 families, ca. 80 species

Bark-drillers

Picidae: 210 species

Although they don’t drill bark the way woodpeckers do, note that there are several other groups that have similar bill shapes for pecking at hard substrates, e.g., nuthatches (Sittidae) and turnstones (Arenaria).

Bark-driller bills superficially look like dagger-shaped fish-eating bills, but in cross-section they are diamond-shaped, not laterally compressed (like a knife blade), and are often blunt at the tip.