CORACIIFORM

also called Rollerlike Bird, any bird of the order Coraciiformes, including the kingfishers, todies, motmots, bee-eaters, rollers, hoopoes, and hornbills. Coraciiforms are chiefly arboreal and total about 191 species. Distribution of the 10 families of this order is nearly worldwide in temperate and tropical areas, with the greatest number of species in Africa, Asia, and Papuan areas. The kingfishers (family Alcedinidae) are found in both the Old and New Worlds. Motmots (Momotidae) and todies (Todidae) are limited to the New World tropics. Bee-eaters (Meropidae), rollers (Coraciidae), and hoopoes (Upupidae) are restricted to the Old World. Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are found in the African and Asian tropics, while wood hoopoes (Phoeniculidae) are found only in southern Africa. The ground rollers (Brachypteraciidae) and cuckoo rollers (Leptosomatidae) live only on Madagascar. Coraciiform birds range in size from 10-centimetre (4-inch) todies to some hornbills reaching more than 100 cm. These large-headed, compact-bodied birds have small feet with some fusion of the toes, and large wings; the tail varies in length. The bill is generally large in most species. Kingfishers have a long, straight bill. Hornbills have a huge, laterally flattened bill with a large horny casque on top. This bill may help the birds reach fruit on the outer twigs of trees and may be used in courtship and other social behaviour. The plumage is often immensely colourful, particularly in such species as the bee-eaters. In the kingfishers, coloration tends toward bright metallic blues and greens, and the bill may be orange or red. The feathers of the hornbills are usually some combination of black and white with accents of rust or yellow. Bright hues accent the skin around the face in some species. Coraciiforms vary widely in habitat, their distribution being strongly affected by the requirements of feeding and breeding of individual species. Coraciiform diet and feeding behaviour can be divided into four types, with each family having a characteristic pattern of feeding. One type of feeding behaviour, watchful waiting on a perch, is practiced by kingfishers, motmots, and todies, which sit quietly for long periods until prey is sighted and then seize it in direct flight. Bee-eaters and rollers are mostly aerial feeders, although they perch often as well. The larger hornbills and small wood hoopoes search on foot among branches of trees for food. The common hoopoe, the ground rollers, and a few hornbills are primarily ground feeders, searching for prey on foot. The diet of this order is mainly animal (mollusk, crustacean, insect, fish, amphibian, reptile, mammal); some species eat fruit. Both rollers and bee-eaters gather in the vicinity of grassfires. They wait or fly near the flames to capture fleeing insects. Certain hornbills forage on the ground after the flames have passed. Courtship may include various calls and display flights. Rollers have a tumbling display in their courtship flight that has earned them their name. Some coraciiform species are highly social. Bee-eaters nest in colonies. Hornbills and wood hoopoes nest in pairs but forage in small groups outside the breeding season. The nest is always placed in a cavity, whether in a tree, bank, wall, or cliff. The hoopoe (Upupa epops) is the only species that adds any lining to the nest. In all species but hornbills and hoopoes, the parents share incubation duties; the females of these species incubate alone, with the males bringing them food. Incubation lasts from 18 to 22 days and nestling from 25 to 28 days, but the larger species have much longer nestling periods. The breeding behaviour of hornbills is different from that of other birds. The female enters the nest cavity, and the male brings mud and various litter with which she fills the entrance hole, leaving only a bill-sized slit for feeding. When the young are partially grown, the females of some hornbill species break out of the nest and help the male forage for the young; remarkably, the young rebuild the wall after the mother exits. In the African hornbill species, the female remains walled in until the young are fledged. The newly hatched young of most coraciiforms are helpless (nidicolous) and naked, except for some down on the hoopoe and certain kingfishers. Young coraciiforms are fed by both parents except in the case of the hoopoe and the hornbills; in these species the male brings food to the female, who then feeds the young. Coraciiform birds undergo one molt a year, replacing their flight feathers in the period following the breeding season. Female African hornbills are somewhat aberrant in this respect, as they undergo a complete molt while walled in with their young. In Africa coraciiform birds such as kingfishers, bee-eaters, hoopoes, and wood hoopoes are victimized by the honey guides (family Indicatoridae), which are brood parasites. The honey guides lay their eggs in a host's nest while destroying the host eggs. If any of the natural offspring do hatch, the nestling honey guides will kill them. Thus the brood parasite gets the benefit of all the food brought by the host parents. Hoopoe (Upupa epops) Red-billed hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus) also called rollerlike bird, any member of the order Coraciiformes, including the kingfishers, todies, motmots, bee-eaters, rollers, hoopoes (see photograph), and hornbills (see photograph). Among the members of the order that have attracted special attention are certain kingfishers that plunge headfirst into water for fish and are associated with classical mythology. According to the ancient Greeks, Ceyx and his wife Alcyone were shipwrecked at Delphi and changed into kingfishers. The Chinese used the shining blue feathers of some types of kingfishers to decorate picture screens. Bee-eaters (Meropidae) have been accused of preying on commercially valuable honeybees, and the North American belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) is sometimes considered a pest at fish hatcheries because it preys on young game fish. The kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) has a loud, laughing or braying voice that is commonly associated with the Australian outback, or backcountry. To the biologist, the sealing of the female of certain species of hornbills in her nest during incubation and brooding is one of the most intriguing behavioral modifications among birds. Additional reading C. Hilary Fry and Kathie Fry, Kingfishers, Bee-Eaters & Rollers: A Handbook (1992), treats all 123 species. C. Hilary Fry, The Bee-Eaters (1984), discusses in greater detail this one group. More specific studies include Reginald E. Moreau, The Comparative Breeding Biology of the African Hornbills (Bucerotidae), Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 107A:331346 (1937), and The Nesting of African Birds in Association with Other Living Things, Ibis, 6:240263 (1942), which includes insect scavengers found in nests occupied by hornbills. Austin L. Rand The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica