Newtonia (bird)

Newtonia
Common newtonia (Newtonia brunneicauda)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Vangidae
Genus:	Newtonia Schlegel, 1867
Type species
Erythrosterna brunneicauda[1] A. Newton, 1863
Species
N. amphichroa N. lavarambo N. brunneicauda N. archboldi N. fanovanae

Newtonia is a genus of passerine birds containing four to five species. They were formerly classified in the Old World warbler family Sylviidae or Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae but have recently been shown to belong to the vanga family Vangidae.^[2] They are endemic to Madagascar where they occur in forest or scrubland. They forage in pairs for insects, often joining mixed-species feeding flocks.

They are small plump birds, about 12 centimetres in length. They have slender bills and usually have a pale eye. Their plumage is mainly grey or brown, paler on the underparts. They have loud, repeated songs.

Species list

List of species in taxonomic order:

• Northern dark newtonia, Newtonia amphichroa
• Southern dark newtonia, Newtonia lavarambo (sometimes considered a subspecies of N. amphichroa)
• Common newtonia, Newtonia brunneicauda
• Archbold's newtonia, Newtonia archboldi
• Red-tailed newtonia, Newtonia fanovanae

References

1. "Vangidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
2. Yamagishi, Satoshi; Honda, Masanao; Eguchi, Kazuhiro & Thorstrom, Russel (2001) "Extreme endemic radiation of the Malagasy Vangas (Aves: Passeriformes)" Journal of Molecular Evolution, 53: 39-46

• Sinclair, Ian & Langrand, Olivier (2003) Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands, Struik, Cape Town.