The scientific order containing several families of small to medium-sized birds including rollers, kingfishers, bee-eaters, and hornbills, characterized by their strong feet and specialized beaks for catching insects.
From Coracias (type genus) + Latin -iformes (order suffix meaning 'having the form of'). Established in 19th-century ornithological taxonomy to group these birds based on shared physical and behavioral traits.
It's wild that hornbills—huge birds with massive beaks—are in the same order as tiny bee-eaters, but they're all related through evolution and share similar hunting techniques and foot structures that other birds don't have.
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