They are birds of dense wet forest undergrowth or bamboo stands in the Amazon and Orinoco basins and surrounding slightly higher ground.
They are round, short-tailed, and long-legged birds, about 5 inches in length. They are quite upright when standing. Sexes differ in plumage, and males are attractively coloured in shades of red and brown. Most species have a white tuft behind the eye. They are insectivorous as the group name implies.
In this condition the shaft is similar to the primitive condition, but is necessarily shortened by the expansion of the footplate.
The similarity of the stapes in the Old World Eurylaimidae and Pittidae, and the Nexv World Furnariidae, Dendrocolaptidae, Formicariidae, Conopophagidae, Rhinocryptidae, Cotingidae, Pipridae, Tyrannidae, and Phytotomidae is strong evidence for a common origin of these Nexv and Old World groups.
A study of the morphology of the stapes in all birds is currently being prepared for publication in monograph form.
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