Recent molecular techniques made it possible to assign these species to Vangidae, thereby solving several taxonomic enigmas.

In addition to the small set of Malagasy species traditionally called the vangas, Vangidae includes some Asian groups: the woodshrikes (Tephrodornis), flycatcher-shrikes (Hemipus) and philentomas.

[2] Vangidae belongs to a clade of corvid birds that also includes bushshrikes (Malaconotidae), ioras (Aegithinidae) and the Australian butcherbirds, magpies and currawongs (Cracticidae) and woodswallows (Artamidae), which has been defined as the superfamily Malaconotoidea.

[3] They seem closely related to some enigmatic African groups: the helmetshrikes (Prionops) and the shrike-flycatchers (Bias and Megabyas).

[4] On Madagascar, vangas were traditionally believed to be a small family of shrike-like birds.

The sickle-billed vanga is notable for its long, curved bill used to probe into holes and cracks.

[12] They are native to Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indomalayan realm, although most are endemic to Madagascar in a variety of forest and scrub habitats.

The three Xenopirostris vangas use their laterally flattened bills to strip bark off trees to search for food underneath.

Van Dam's vanga is classed as endangered because it is restricted to a small area of north-west Madagascar where the forest is rapidly disappearing due to clearance for agriculture and uncontrolled bushfires.