Mesites and Roatelos: Mesitornithidae

The brown mesite and white-breasted mesite eat insects and other invertebrates, seeds, and small fruits from the leaf litter on the forest floor. The brown mesite and white-breasted mesite have bills that are adapted to lifting leaves without disturbing prey that may be hiding underneath. The subdesert mesite has a longer, more extensively curved bill that allows it to find invertebrates on the ground. Like the other mesite species, however, the subdesert mesite will sometimes feed in the leaf litter.