Piciformes
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Related to Piciformes: Passeriformes, Apodiformes, Anseriformes, Charadriiformes, Caprimulgiformes, Gruiformes
Piciformes
[‚pis·ə′fȯr‚mēz] (vertebrate zoology)
An order of birds characterized by the peculiar arrangement of the tendons of the toes.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Piciformes
an order of birds; anatomically they are close to the Coraciiformes and the Passeriformes. They are smalland medium-sized arboreal birds, which nest in hollows or burrows. The eggs are white, and the young of most species are naked when they hatch. They vary greatly in outer appearance and habits. There are six families: Galbulidae, Bucconidae, Ramphastidae, Indicatoridae, Capitonidae, and Picidae. There are approximately 400 species, found throughout the world except for Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and Polynesia. Piciformes are most numerous in tropical forests.
REFERENCES
Rukovodstvo po zoologii, vol. 6. Moscow-Leningrad, 1940.Shul’pin, L. M.Ornitologiia. Leningrad, 1940.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.