Halcyornis toliapicus is one of the historically earliest named London Clay birds. The species is based on cranial material and belongs to Halcyornithidae, an extinct group of small arboreal birds associated with the early radiation of parrot and passerine related lineages.

The broader family had adaptations consistent with life in trees, but the type of H. toliapicus itself does not preserve a foot or a direct record of diet. An arboreal lifestyle and mixed feeding on small invertebrates or plant foods are reasonable family level inferences, not direct observations from the species holotype.