Hyliotas | Hyliotidae

Hyliota's | Hiliotas

A small, isolated African family of four species in the genus Hyliota, two of which occur in this region. Formerly placed among the warblers or flycatchers, they are now shown by molecular studies to be an early-diverging branch with no close living relatives. They are small, compact birds with a short, fine bill. Males are glossy blue-black above with a bold white wing stripe, and buff to orange-yellow below. Females are duller and greyer above. Hyliotas live high in the canopy of dry open woodland, especially miombo. There they glean insects from leaves and twigs with short hops and flutters, often in mixed-species flocks. They are unobtrusive and hard to follow against the sky, and their soft, high contact calls are easily missed. The nest is a small, neat cup placed high in a tree fork.