AVITOPIA - Sapayoa

The only species of the family of Sapayoas occurs in the Andes from Panama to Ecuador. The body height is between 13.5 cm and 15 cm. Sapayoas are inconspicuously olive colored and have a broad, flat bill with a hook at the tip. The systematic position of the species has long been a mystery, hence the Latin name 'aenigma'; it was only around 100 years after the first description that it turned out that they are most closely related to the Asian Broadbills and that they belong to a family of their own. Their habitat are rainforests, where they catch arthropods both in flight and in the foliage and also eat small fruits. Sapayoas are monogamous and build a pear-shaped nest that hangs from a branch. The clutch usually consists of two eggs. Both parents take care of the young birds.