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The family Vangidae (from vanga, Malagasy for the hook-billed vanga, Vanga curvirostris) comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to which the family owes its name. Many species in this family were previously classified elsewhere in other families. Recent molecular techniques made it possible to assign these species to Vangidae, thereby solving several taxonomic enigmas. The family contains 40 species divided into 21 genera.
Vangidae belongs to a clade of corvid birds that also includes (Malaconotidae), (Aegithinidae) and the Australian butcherbirds, magpies and currawongs (Cracticidae) and woodswallows (Artamidae), which has been defined as the superfamily Malaconotoidea. (2025). 9780195172348, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195172348 They seem closely related to some enigmatic African groups: the ( Prionops) and the shrike-flycatchers ( Bias and Megabyas).Fuchs, J.; Bowie, R.C.K.; Fjeldsa, J. & Pasquet, E. (2004): Phylogenetic relationships of the African bush-shrikes and helmet-shrikes (Passeriformes: Malaconotidae). Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 33(2): 428–439.
On Madagascar, vangas were traditionally believed to be a small family of shrike-like birds. Recent research suggests that several Madagascan taxa most similar in appearance and habits (and formerly considered to be) Old World warblers, Old World flycatchers or Old World babblers may be vangas. Yamagishi et al. found in 2001 that Newtonia appeared to belong with the vangas rather than the warblers and also that Tylas was a vanga and not a bulbul.Yamagishi, S.; Honda, M.; Eguchi, K. & Thorstrom, R. (2001): Extreme endemic radiation of the Malagasy Vangas (Aves: Passeriformes). J. Mol. Evol. 53(1): 39–46. Abstract It also appears that Ward's flycatcher and Crossley's babbler belong with the vangas.Cibois, A.; Pasquet, E. & Schulenberg, T.S. (1999): HTML Molecular systematics of the Malagasy babblers (Timaliidae) and Warblers (Sylviidae), based on cytochrome b and 16S rRNA sequences. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 13(3): 581–595.Cibois, A.; Slikas, B.; Schulenberg, T.S. & Pasquet, E. (2001): An endemic radiation of Malagasy songbirds is revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequence data. Evolution 55(6): 1198–1206. PDF fulltext Schulenberg, T.S. (2003): The Radiations of Passerine Birds on Madagascar. In: Goodman, Steven M. & Benstead, Jonathan P. (eds.): The Natural History of Madagascar: 1130–1134. University of Chicago Press.
The phylogenetic relationships between the genera are shown below. The cladogram is based on a study by Sushma Reddy and collaborators that was published in 2012. The species in the subfamily Vanginae are endemic to Madagascar.
Most vangas are largely black, brown or grey above and white below. Exceptions include the blue and white blue vanga and the blue-grey nuthatch vanga. The helmet vanga is mostly black with a rufous back. Male Bernier's vangas are entirely black while the females are brown. It is one of several species with distinct male and female plumage while in other species the sexes are identical.
Most vangas have whistling calls.
Most species nest in pairs, building cup-shaped nests using twigs, bark, roots and leaves. The sickle-billed vanga nests in groups and builds a large nest of sticks.
FAMILY: VANGIDAE
Distribution and habitat
They are native to Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indomalayan realm, although most are endemic to Madagascar in a variety of forest and scrub habitats. Several species including Van Dam's vanga and sickle-billed vanga can be found in the dry deciduous forests in the west of the island. Some such as Crossley's babbler, helmet vanga and Bernier's vanga are restricted to rainforest in the east of the island. Lafresnaye's vanga and the recently discovered red-shouldered vanga occur in subarid thorn scrub in the south-west.
Behaviour
Their diet can include insects, earthworms, millipedes, lizards and amphibians. The blue vanga and chabert vanga occasionally eat fruit. Many species feed in small groups, often in mixed-species foraging flocks. The hook-billed vanga and Lafresnaye's vanga tend to forage alone. Vangas have a variety of different foraging strategies. Many species glean food as they move through the branches. The nuthatch vanga climbs up trunks and branches like a nuthatch but does not climb downwards as nuthatches do. Crossley's babbler forages by walking along the forest floor amongst the leaf litter. The chabert vanga and the tylas vanga often fly into the air to catch prey. The three Xenopirostris vangas use their laterally flattened bills to strip bark off trees to search for food underneath.
Status and conservation
Some species of vanga are common such as the chabert vanga which can survive in secondary woodland and plantations of introduced trees. Several other species are threatened by loss of their forest habitat. Pollen's vanga is classed as near-threatened by BirdLife International and the red-shouldered vanga, Bernier's vanga, helmet vanga and red-tailed newtonia are regarded as vulnerable. Van Dam's vanga is classed as endangered because it is restricted to a small area of north-west Madagascar where the forest is rapidly disappearing due to clearance for agriculture and uncontrolled bushfires.BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Xenopirostris damii. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2/1/2010.
Species list
The family contains 21 genera and 40 species.
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