AGILIFUGIIFORMES

   The agilifugiform birds, the swoops, are a branch of clade apodimorphae (swoops and hummingbirds) and are widespread in the North America (with some species found in Northeastern Eurasia).  These birds originated in South America, and, along with the twitavian mistriders, have become the dominant high-speed insectivores of the New World.

AGILIFUGIIDAE
    The most diverse family of Agilifugiiformes, Agilifugiidae includes most of the high-speed chasers of insects common to the New World.
 

SAMPLE TAXA:

• Hmungo-swoop
• Great bigmouth
• Alaskan shuttlecock

 
MICROFUGIIDAE
    The minnies, or microfugiids, are minute insectivores that invaded North America during the Great Interchange  along with the other apodimorphs. Superficially similar to their cousins, the hummingbirds, minnies are insectivorous and do not eat nectar, nor do they hover. These birds compete with the smaller North American coraciiforms for their ecological niche, and have largely replaced these native birds in the southern parts of North America.

SAMPLE TAXA:

• Redshrouded minny
• Plummy minny

(Text by Daniel Bensen)

 
Back to Spec