Highnose

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This article contains made-up species!
This article contains made-up species not found on Earth. They will be highlighted in pink.

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Highnoses
A Robert's Highnose.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Clade:	Inopinaves
Clade:	Telluraves
Clade:	Afroaves
Clade:	Picimorphae
Order:	Altirhiniformes Hellstern, 2305
Family:	Altirhinidae Travis, 2305

Hignoses (Altirhiniformes, Altirhinidae) are an order of birds that closely resemble a conglomerate of different birds such as motmots, jacamars, hornbills or toucans. Their classification remains unknown, so they are put in their own order. They have zygodactyl feet, like Piciformes.

Taxonomy

They are placed in their own order because of the strangeness of their features.

Species

Taxonomic order is based on Travis et al. 2312.

• Motmot Highnose, Coracoides momotus^{[made-up sp.]}
• Curve-billed Highnose, Coracoides nitens^{[made-up sp.]}
• Jacamar Highnose, Galbuloides tenuirostris^{[made-up sp.]}
• Robert's Highnose, Galbuloides roberti^{[made-up sp.]}

The Coracoides are nicknamed "roller-like highnoses" and the Galbuloides are nicknamed the "jacamar-like highnoses". However, the Robert's may belong in Coracoides since its colouration is similar to the Lilac-breasted Roller.

Anatomy

All of the species have bony crests, or casques, on their bills. They resemble those of the hornbills, however; they are less hollow than hornbill's. They have zygodactyl feet like Psittaciformes or Piciformes. They range from 5–15 inches (13–38 cm), depending on the species, sex and age. Their colouration resembles those of rollers or jacamars. Some have racquets on their tails like motmots.

The vision of the highnoses are known to be just as good as a bird of prey's - the function is unknown; however, Travis suspects it is for spotting insects amongst leaves and bark. They have binocular vision. Their ears are located on the sides of the head, like in most birds. They also have more taste buds than most birds their size.

Diet

They have feed on many invertebrates such as crickets, grasshoppers, dragonflies, mayflies, wasps, bees, bumblebees, beetles, moths, butterflies, millipedes, centipedes, pillbugs, cockroaches, cicadas, mosquitoes and mantids .

Behaviour

Flight speed has been recorded at 35 mph when chasing insects. They are not known to hover or soar.

References

This article is part of Project Bird Orders, a All Birds project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each bird order, including made-up orders.

This article is part of Project Bird Families, a All Birds project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each bird family, including made-up families.

This article is part of Project Bird Taxonomy, a All Birds project that aims to write comprehensive articles on every order, family and other taxonomic rank related to birds.