Orthonychidae
| Logrunners | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Male Australian logrunner | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Suborder: | Passeri |
| Family: |
Orthonychidae G.R. Gray, 1840 |
| Genus: |
Orthonyx Temminck, 1820 |
| Species | |
The logrunners (Orthonyx) are a clade of birds which comprises three species of passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Some authorities consider the Australian family Cinclosomatidae to be part of the Orthonychidae. The three species use their stiffened tails to brace themselves when feeding.
The species are:
The Australian logrunner, Orthonyx temminckii, is from northeastern New South Wales and southeast Queensland, where it is very local in its distribution, and strictly terrestrial in its habits. The wings are barred with white, and the chin, throat and breast are in the male pure white, but of a bright reddish-orange in the female. The remiges are very short, rounded and much incurved, showing a bird of weak flight. The rectrices are very broad, the shafts stiff, and towards the tip divested of barbs. The population which is found locally in New Guinea is now generally considered a separate species, the Papuan logrunner, Orthonyx novaeguineae.
The chowchilla, Orthonyx spaldingii, from north-east Queensland, is much larger than either species of logrunner, and has a jet-black plumage, the throat being white in the male and orange-rufous in the female.
The fossil record does not much help to determine the affiliations of the Orthonychidae. Three prehistoric species are known to science. The very large Orthonyx hypsilophus from Fossil Cave and an undescribed species found in Pyramids Cave which was a bit smaller than the Australian logrunner are probably of age.Orthonyx kaldowinyeri is known from Middle or Late Miocene deposits of Riversleigh; it is the oldest and smallest species known to date (Boles, 1993).
Logrunners are semi-terrestrial birds of weak flight. They are strictly carnivorous, with insects and larvae being their chief food, whilst the larger chowchilla will also eat small lizards. They find their food by digging in the soil, using their spiny tails as a support in the wet forest.
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Wikipedia