> Does anyone know if the Grey Butcherbird has any
> close genetic relationship with any of the Kingfisher family?
Hi Peter
Not even close really. Its nearest relatives are currawongs, Australian
magpies and woodswallows, and the family Artamidae to which they all
belong is in the perching birds or passerine order - Passeriformes.
Kingfishers are not passerines, and they sit in the order Coraciiformes
in two families - Alcedinidae and Halcyonidae - which includes the
'fishing' kingfishers as well as the terrestrial ones and kookaburras.
Other near relatives in the Australasian region in Coraciiformes include
bee-eaters (Meropidae) and rollers such as the Dollarbird (Coraciidae).
L.
=================================
Lawrie Conole
Senior Ecologist
Ecology Australia Pty. Ltd.
Flora and Fauna Consultants
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