Editing Mesite (section)

{{short description|Family of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Mesites
| taxon = Mesitornithidae
| image = Subdesert Mesite.jpg
| image_caption = [[Subdesert mesite]] (''Monias benschi'')
| display_parents = 2
| parent_authority = [[Alexander Wetmore|Wetmore]], 1960
| authority = [[Alexander Wetmore|Wetmore]], 1960
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision =
*''[[Mesitornis]]''
*''[[Monias]]''
| range_map = Madagaskar-mesites-06.jpg
| range_map_upright = 0.8
| range_map_caption = Respective ranges: [[brown mesite]] in orange, [[white-breasted mesite]] in green and [[subdesert mesite]] in blue
}}

The '''mesites''' ('''Mesitornithidae''') are a [[family (biology)|family]] of [[bird]]s that are part of a [[clade]] ([[Columbimorphae]]) that include [[Columbiformes]] and [[Pterocliformes]].<ref name=Jarvis2014>{{cite journal | last1 = Jarvis | first1 = E.D. |display-authors=etal  | year = 2014 | title = Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds | url= | journal = Science | volume = 346 | issue = 6215| pages = 1320–1331 | doi=10.1126/science.1253451 | pmid=25504713 | pmc=4405904| bibcode = 2014Sci...346.1320J }}</ref> They are somewhat small-bodied, [[Flightless bird|flightless or near flightless birds]] endemic to [[Madagascar]]. All the species of this clade are listed as [[Vulnerable species|vulnerable]].