A passerine () is any

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

of the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

Passeriformes (; from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by the arrangement of their toes (three pointing forward and one back), which facilitates perching. With more than 140 families and some 6,500 identified species, Passeriformes is the largest clade of birds and among the most diverse clades of terrestrial vertebrates, representing 60% of birds.Ericson, P.G.P. et al. (2003
Evolution, biogeography, and patterns of diversification in passerine birds
''J. Avian Biol'', 34:3–15.Selvatti, A.P. et al. (2015
"A Paleogene origin for crown passerines and the diversification of the Oscines in the New World"
''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'', 88:1–15. Passerines are divided into three clades: Acanthisitti (New Zealand wrens),

Tyranni The Tyranni (suboscines) are a suborder of passerine birds that includes more than 1,000 species, the large majority of which are South American. It is named after the type genus ''Tyrannus''. These have a different anatomy of the syrinx m ...

(suboscines), and Passeri (oscines or songbirds). The passerines contain several groups of brood parasites such as the viduas, cuckoo-finches, and the cowbirds. Most passerines are omnivorous, while the shrikes are carnivorous. The terms "passerine" and "Passeriformes" are derived from the scientific name of the house sparrow, ''Passer domesticus'', and ultimately from the

term ''passer'', which refers to sparrows and similar small birds.

Description

The order is divided into three suborders,

(suboscines), Passeri (oscines or songbirds), and the basal Acanthisitti. Oscines have the best control of their syrinx muscles among birds, producing a wide range of songs and other vocalizations, though some of them, such as the crows, do not sound musical to human beings. Some, such as the lyrebird, are accomplished mimics. The New Zealand wrens are tiny birds restricted to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

, at least in modern times; they were long placed in Passeri. PasserinePterylosis

Most passerines are smaller than typical members of other avian orders. The heaviest and altogether largest passerines are the thick-billed raven and the larger races of

common raven The common raven (''Corvus corax'') is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. It is a raven known by many names at the subspecies level; there are at least ...

, each exceeding and . The superb lyrebird and some birds-of-paradise, due to very long tails or tail coverts, are longer overall. The smallest passerine is the short-tailed pygmy tyrant, at and .

Anatomy

The foot of a passerine has three toes directed forward and one toe directed backward, called

anisodactyl In biology, dactyly is the arrangement of digits (fingers and toes) on the hands, feet, or sometimes wings of a tetrapod animal. It comes from the Greek word δακτυλος (''dáktylos'') = "finger". Sometimes the ending "-dactylia" is use ...

arrangement, and the hind toe (

hallux Toes are the digits (fingers) of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plan ...

) joins the leg at approximately the same level as the front toes. This arrangement enables passerine birds to easily perch upright on branches. The toes have no webbing or joining, but in some cotingas, the second and third toes are united at their basal third. The leg of passerine birds contains an additional special adaptation for perching. A tendon in the rear of the leg running from the underside of the toes to the muscle behind the tibiotarsus will automatically be pulled and tighten when the leg bends, causing the foot to curl and become stiff when the bird lands on a branch. This enables passerines to sleep while perching without falling off. Most passerine birds have 12 tail feathers but the superb lyrebird has 16, and several spinetails in the family Furnariidae have 10, 8, or even 6, as is the case of Des Murs's wiretail. Species adapted to tree trunk climbing such as

woodcreeper The woodcreepers (Dendrocolaptinae) comprise a subfamily of suboscine passerine birds endemic to the Neotropics. They have traditionally been considered a distinct family Dendrocolaptidae, but most authorities now place them as a subfamily o ...

and

treecreepers The treecreepers are a family, Certhiidae, of small passerine birds, widespread in wooded regions of the Northern Hemisphere and sub-Saharan Africa. The family contains eleven species in two genera, ''Certhia'' and ''Salpornis''. Their plumage i ...

have stiff tail feathers that are used as props during climbing. Extremely long tails used as sexual ornaments are shown by species in different families. A well-known example is the long-tailed widowbird.

Eggs and nests

The chicks of passerines are altricial: blind, featherless, and helpless when hatched from their eggs. Hence, the chicks require extensive parental care. Most passerines lay colored eggs, in contrast with nonpasserines, most of whose eggs are white except in some ground-nesting groups such as

Charadriiformes Charadriiformes (, from ''Charadrius'', the type genus of family Charadriidae) is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. It includes about 390 species and has members in all parts of the world. Most charadriiform birds live near water a ...

and nightjars, where camouflage is necessary, and in some parasitic

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

s, which match the passerine host's egg. The vinous-throated parrotbill has two egg colors, white and blue, to deter the brood parasitic common cuckoo. Clutches vary considerably in size: some larger passerines of Australia such as lyrebirds and scrub-robins lay only a single egg, most smaller passerines in warmer climates lay between two and five, while in the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, hole-nesting species like tits can lay up to a dozen and other species around five or six. The family Viduidae do not build their own nests, instead, they lay eggs in other birds' nests.

Origin and evolution

The evolutionary history of the passerine families and the relationships among them remained rather mysterious until the late 20th century. In many cases, passerine families were grouped together on the basis of morphological similarities that, it is now believed, are the result of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

, not a close genetic relationship. For example, the wrens of the Americas and Eurasia, those of Australia, and those of New Zealand, look superficially similar and behave in similar ways, yet belong to three far-flung branches of the passerine family tree; they are as unrelated as it is possible to be while remaining Passeriformes. Advances in

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and phys ...

and improved paleobiogeographical data gradually are revealing a clearer picture of passerine origins and evolution that reconciles molecular affinities, the constraints of morphology and the specifics of the fossil record. The first passerines are now thought to have evolved in Gondwana (in the Southern Hemisphere) in the late

Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''pala ...

or early

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', ...

, around 50 million years ago. The initial split was between the New Zealand wrens ( Acanthisittidae) and all other passerines ( Eupasserine), and the second split involved the

(suboscines) and the Passeri (oscines or songbirds). A rupture of the Gondwanan continent caused the core split of the Eupasseres, which were divided into these groups, one in Western Gondwana (Tyranni) and the other in Eastern Gondwana (Passeri). Passeri experienced a great radiation of forms out of the Australian continent. A major branch of the Passeri, parvorder Passerida, expanded deep into Eurasia and Africa, where a further explosive radiation of new lineages occurred. This eventually led to three major Passerida lineages comprising about 4,000 species, which in addition to the Corvida and numerous minor lineages make up songbird diversity today. Extensive biogeographical mixing happens, with northern forms returning to the south, southern forms moving north, and so on.

Fossil record

Earliest passerines

Perching bird osteology, especially of the limb bones, is rather diagnostic. However, the early fossil record is poor because the first Passeriformes were relatively small, and their delicate bones did not preserve well. Queensland Museum specimens F20688 ( carpometacarpus) and F24685 ( tibiotarsus) from Murgon, Queensland, are fossil bone fragments initially assigned to Passeriformes. However, the material is too fragmentary and their affinities have been questioned. Several more recent fossils from the Oligocene of Europe, such as '' Wieslochia'', '' Jamna'', '' Resoviaornis'' and '' Crosnoornis'', are more complete and definitely represent early passeriforms, although their exact position in the evolutionary tree is not known. From the Bathans Formation at the Manuherikia River in Otago, New Zealand, MNZ S42815 (a distal right tarsometatarsus of a tui-sized bird) and several bones of at least one species of saddleback-sized bird have recently been described. These date from the Early to Middle Miocene
Awamoan
to Lillburnian, 19–16 mya).

Early European passerines

In Europe, perching birds are not too uncommon in the fossil record from the Oligocene onward, but most are too fragmentary for a more definite placement: * '' Wieslochia'' (Early Oligocene of Frauenweiler, Germany) * '' Resoviaornis'' (Early Oligocene of Wola Rafałowska, Poland) * '' Jamna'' (Early Oligocene of Jamna Dolna, Poland) * '' Winnicavis'' (Early Oligocene of Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland) * '' Crosnoornis'' (Early Oligocene of Poland) * Passeriformes gen. et sp. indet. (Early Oligocene of Luberon, France) – suboscine or basal * Passeriformes gen. et spp. indet. (Late Oligocene of France) – several suboscine and oscine taxa * Passeriformes gen. et spp. indet. (Middle Miocene of France and Germany) – basal? * Passeriformes gen. et spp. indet. (Sajóvölgyi Middle Miocene of Mátraszőlős, Hungary) – at least 2 taxa, possibly 3; at least one probably Oscines. * Passeriformes gen. et sp. indet. (Middle Miocene of Felsőtárkány, Hungary) – oscine? *Passeriformes gen. et sp. indet. (Late Miocene of Polgárdi, Hungary) – Sylvioidea ( Sylviidae?

Cettiidae Cettiidae is a newly validated family of small insectivorous songbirds ("warblers"), formerly placed in the Old World warbler "wastebin" assemblage. It contains the typical bush warblers (''Cettia'') and their relatives. As a common name, cettii ...

?) That suboscines expanded much beyond their region of origin is proven by several fossil from Germany such as a broadbill ( Eurylaimidae) humerus fragment from the Early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

(roughly 20 mya) of Wintershof, Germany, the Late Oligocene carpometacarpus from France listed above, and '' Wieslochia'', among others. Extant Passeri super-families were quite distinct by that time and are known since about 12–13 mya when modern genera were present in the corvoidean and basal songbirds. The modern diversity of Passerida genera is known mostly from the Late Miocene onwards and into the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

and early

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

lagerstätten (<1.8 mya) yield numerous extant species, and many yield almost nothing but extant species or their chronospecies and paleosubspecies.

American fossils

In the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...

, the fossil record is more scant before the Pleistocene, from which several still-existing suboscine families are documented. Apart from the indeterminable MACN-SC-1411 (Pinturas Early/Middle Miocene of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina), an extinct lineage of perching birds has been described from the Late Miocene of California, United States: the Palaeoscinidae with the single genus '' Palaeoscinis''. ''"Palaeostruthus" eurius'' (Pliocene of Florida) probably belongs to an extant family, most likely

passeroidea Passerida is, under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two parvorders contained within the suborder Passeri (standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder). While more recent research suggests that its sister parvorde ...

Systematics and taxonomy

The Passeriformes is currently divided into three suborders: Acanthisitti (New Zealand wrens),

(suboscines) and Passeri (oscines or songbirds). The Passeri is now subdivided into two major groups recognized now as

Corvides Corvides is a clade of birds in the order of Passeriformes. Previously referred to as the core Corvoidea,Jønsson K.A., Fabre P.-H., Kennedy J.D., Holt B.G., Borregaard M.K., Rahbek C., Fjeldså J. (2016A supermatrix phylogeny of corvoid passerin ...

and Passerida respectively containing the large superfamilies Corvoidea and Meliphagoidea, as well as minor lineages, and the superfamilies Sylvioidea,

Muscicapoidea Muscicapoidea is a superfamily belonging to the infraorder Passerides containing the Old World flycatchers, thrushes, starlings and their allies. The superfamily contains around 670 species. Within the parvorder Muscicapida, Muscicapoidea is ...

, and

Passeroidea Passerida is, under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two parvorders contained within the suborder Passeri (standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder). While more recent research suggests that its sister parvorde ...

but this arrangement has been found to be oversimplified. Since the mid-2000s, literally, dozens of studies have investigated the

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological s ...

of the Passeriformes and found that many families from

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologic ...

traditionally included in the Corvoidea actually represent more basal lineages within oscines. Likewise, the traditional three-superfamily arrangement within the Passeri has turned out to be far more complex and will require changes in classification. Major " wastebin" families such as the

Old World warbler Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxonomic confusion. Two families were split out initially, the ci ...

s and Old World babblers have turned out to be paraphyletic and are being rearranged. Several taxa turned out to represent highly distinct lineages, so new families had to be established, some of them – like the

stitchbird The stitchbird or hihi (''Notiomystis cincta'') is a honeyeater-like bird endemic to the North Island and adjacent offshore islands of New Zealand. Its evolutionary relationships have long puzzled ornithologists, but it is now classed as the o ...

of New Zealand and the

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

bearded reedling The bearded reedling (''Panurus biarmicus'') is a small, sexually dimorphic reed-bed passerine bird. It is frequently known as the bearded tit, due to some similarities to the long-tailed tit, or the bearded parrotbill. It is the only species ...

– monotypic with only one living species.The former does not even have recognized subspecies, while the latter is one of the most singular birds alive today. Good photos of a bearded reedling are for exampl
here
an
here
. In the Passeri alone, a number of minor lineages will eventually be recognized as distinct superfamilies. For example, the kinglets constitute a single genus with less than 10 species today but seem to have been among the first perching bird lineages to diverge as the group spread across Eurasia. No particularly close relatives of them have been found among comprehensive studies of the living Passeri, though they might be fairly close to some little-studied tropical Asian groups. Nuthatches, wrens, and their closest relatives are currently grouped in a distinct super-family Certhioidea.

Taxonomic list of Passeriformes families

This list is in taxonomic order, placing related families next to one another. The families listed are those recognised by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC). The order and the division into infraorders, parvorders and superfamilies follows the phylogenetic analysis published by Carl Oliveros and colleagues in 2019. The relationships between the families in the suborder Tyranni (suboscines) were all well determined but some of the nodes in Passeri (oscines or songbirds) were unclear owing to the rapid splitting of the lineages.

Suborder Acanthisitti

:::* Acanthisittidae: New Zealand wrens Pitta guajana-20030531B

Rupicola peruviana (male) -San Diego Zoo-8

Suborder
Tyranni The Tyranni (suboscines) are a suborder of passerine birds that includes more than 1,000 species, the large majority of which are South American. It is named after the type genus ''Tyrannus''. These have a different anatomy of the syrinx m ...
(suboscines)

Infraorder Eurylaimides: Old World suboscines Infraorder Tyrannides: New World suboscines
Parvorder Furnariida Parvorder Tyrannida

Suborder Passeri (oscines or songbirds)

:::* Atrichornithidae: scrub-birds :::* Menuridae: lyrebirds :::* Climacteridae: Australian treecreepers :::* Ptilonorhynchidae: bowerbirds :::* Maluridae: fairywrens, emu-wrens and grasswrens :::* Dasyornithidae: bristlebirds :::* Pardalotidae: pardalotes :::* Acanthizidae: scrubwrens, thornbills, and gerygones :::* Meliphagidae: honeyeaters :::*

Pomatostomidae The Pomatostomidae (Australo-Papuan or Australasian babblers, also known as pseudo-babblers) are small to medium-sized birds endemic to Australia-New Guinea. For many years, the Australo-Papuan babblers were classified, rather uncertainly, with t ...

: pseudo-babblers :::* Orthonychidae: logrunners Regentbowerbirdmale

* Infraorder

– previously known as the parvorder Corvida :::* Cinclosomatidae: jewel-babblers, quail-thrushes :::* Campephagidae: cuckooshrikes and trillers :::* Mohouidae: whiteheads :::* Neosittidae: sittellas ::*Superfamily Orioloidea :::* Psophodidae: whipbirds :::* Eulacestomatidae: wattled ploughbill :::*

Falcunculidae The crested shriketit (''Falcunculus frontatus'') or Australian shriketit, is a bird endemic to Australia where it inhabits open eucalypt forest and woodland. It is the only species contained within both the family Falcunculidae and the genus ...

: shriketit :::* Oreoicidae: Australo-Papuan bellbirds :::* Paramythiidae: painted berrypeckers :::* Vireonidae: vireos :::* Pachycephalidae: whistlers :::* Oriolidae: Old World orioles and figbirds ::*Superfamily Malaconotoidea Goldcrest 1

:::*

Machaerirhynchidae ''Machaerirhynchus'' is a genus of passerine birds with affinities to woodswallows and butcherbirds. The two species are known as boatbills. The genus is distributed across New Guinea and northern Queensland. The species are: * Black-breas ...

: boatbills :::* Artamidae: woodswallows, butcherbirds, currawongs, and Australian magpie :::* Rhagologidae: mottled berryhunter :::* Malaconotidae: puffback shrikes, bush shrikes, tchagras, and boubous :::*

Pityriaseidae The Bornean bristlehead (''Pityriasis gymnocephala''), also variously known as the bristled shrike, bald-headed crow or the bald-headed wood-shrike, is the only member of the passerine family Pityriasidae and genus ''Pityriasis''. It is an eni ...

: bristlehead :::* Aegithinidae: ioras :::*

Platysteiridae Platysteiridae is a family of small, stout passerine birds of the African tropics. The family contains the wattle-eyes, batises and shrike-flycatchers. They were previously classed as a subfamily of the Old World flycatchers, Muscicapidae. Thes ...

: wattle-eyes and batises :::* Vangidae: vangas ::*Superfamily Corvoidea :::*

Rhipiduridae The family Rhipiduridae are small insectivorous birds of Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent that includes the fantails and silktails. Taxonomy and systematics There are four genera classified within the family: * Subfamily R ...

: fantails :::* Dicruridae: drongos :::* Monarchidae: monarch flycatchers :::* Ifritidae: blue-capped ifrit :::* Paradisaeidae: birds-of-paradise :::* Corcoracidae: white-winged chough and apostlebird :::* Melampittidae: melampittas :::* Laniidae: shrikes :::* Platylophidae: jayshrike :::* Corvidae: crows, ravens, and jays Acrocephalus dumetorum

* Infraorder

Passerides A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5000 ...

– previously known as the parvorder Passerida :::* Cnemophilidae: satinbirds :::* Melanocharitidae: berrypeckers and longbills :::*

Callaeidae Callaeidae (sometimes Callaeatidae) is a family of passerine birds endemic to New Zealand. It contains three genera, with five species in the family. One species, the huia, became extinct early in the 20th century, while the South Island kokak ...

: New Zealand wattlebirds :::* Notiomystidae: stitchbird :::*

Petroicidae The bird family Petroicidae includes 51 species in 19 genera. All are endemic to Australasia: New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and numerous Pacific Islands as far east as Samoa. For want of an accurate common name, the family is often called th ...

: Australian robins :::* Eupetidae: rail-babbler :::* Picathartidae: rockfowl :::*

Chaetopidae The rockjumpers are medium-sized insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus ''Chaetops'', which constitutes the entire family Chaetopidae. The two species, the Cape rockjumper, ''Chaetops frenatus'', and the Drakensberg rockjumper, ''Chaeto ...

: rock-jumpers Eurasian blue tit Lancashire 2

:* Parvorder Sylviida – previously known as the superfamily Sylviodea :::* Hyliotidae: hyliotas :::*

Stenostiridae Stenostiridae, or the fairy flycatchers, are a family of small passerine birds proposed as a result of recent discoveries in molecular systematics.Beresford ''et al.'' (2005) They are also referred to as stenostirid warblers. Taxonomy and syste ...

: fairy flycatchers :::* Paridae: tits, chickadees and titmice :::* Remizidae: penduline tits :::* Panuridae: bearded reedling :::* Alaudidae: larks :::*

Nicatoridae The nicators are a genus, ''Nicator'', and family, Nicatoridae, of songbirds endemic to Africa. The genus and family contain three species. Taxonomy The systematic affinities of the genus have been a long-standing mystery. The group was origina ...

: nicators :::* Macrosphenidae: crombecs and African warblers :::* Cisticolidae: cisticolas and allies Brown-headed Nuthatch-27527-4c

::*Superfamily Locustelloidea :::* Acrocephalidae: reed warblers, Grauer's warbler and allies :::* Locustellidae: grassbirds and allies :::*

Donacobiidae The black-capped donacobius (''Donacobius atricapilla'') is a conspicuous, vocal South American bird. It is found in tropical swamps and wetlands in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Su ...

: black-capped donacobius :::*

Bernieridae The Tetrakas and allies are a newly validated family of songbirds. They were formally named Bernieridae in 2010. The family currently consists of eleven species (in eight genera) of small forest birds. These birds are all endemic to Madagascar. ...

: Malagasy warblers :::— :::* Pnoepygidae: wren-babblers :::* Hirundinidae: swallows and martins Einsiedlerdrossel

::*Superfamily Sylvioidea :::* Pycnonotidae: bulbuls :::* Sylviidae: sylviid babblers :::* Paradoxornithidae: parrotbills and myzornis :::* Zosteropidae: white-eyes :::* Timaliidae: tree babblers :::* Leiothrichidae: laughingthrushes and allies :::* Alcippeidae: Alcippe fulvettas :::*

Pellorneidae The jungle babblers are a family, Pellorneidae, of mostly Old World passerine birds belonging to the superfamily Sylvioidea. They are quite diverse in size and coloration, and usually characterised by soft, fluffy plumage and a tail on average t ...

: ground babblers GouldianFinches

::*Superfamily Aegithaloidea :::* Phylloscopidae: leaf-warblers and allies :::* Hyliidae: hylias :::* Aegithalidae: long-tailed tits or bushtits :::* Scotocercidae: streaked scrub warbler :::*

: Cettia bush warblers and allies :::* Erythrocercidae: yellow flycatchers Hirundo abyssinica

:* Parvorder Muscicapida – previously known as the superfamily Muscicapoidea ::*Superfamily Bombycilloidea :::* Dulidae: palmchat :::* Bombycillidae: waxwings :::* Ptiliogonatidae: silky flycatchers :::* Hylocitreidae: hylocitrea :::* Hypocoliidae: hypocolius :::* Mohoidae: oos Pinzón azul de Gran Canaria (macho), M

::*Superfamily

:::* Elachuridae: spotted elachura :::* Cinclidae: dippers :::* Muscicapidae: Old World flycatchers and chats :::* Turdidae: thrushes and allies :::*

Buphagidae The oxpeckers are two species of bird which make up the genus ''Buphagus'', and family Buphagidae. The oxpeckers were formerly usually treated as a subfamily, Buphaginae, within the starling family, Sturnidae, but molecular phylogenetic studi ...

: oxpeckers :::* Sturnidae: starlings and rhabdornis :::* Mimidae: mockingbirds and thrashers :::— :::* Regulidae: goldcrests and kinglets ::*Superfamily Certhioidea :::* Tichodromidae: wallcreeper :::* Sittidae: nuthatches :::* Certhiidae: treecreepers :::* Polioptilidae: gnatcatchers :::* Troglodytidae: wrens * Parvorder Passerida – previously known as the superfamily Passeroidea :::*

Promeropidae The sugarbirds are a small genus, ''Promerops'', and family, Promeropidae, of passerine birds, restricted to southern Africa. In general appearance and habits, they resemble large, long-tailed sunbirds, but are possibly more closely related to ...

: sugarbirds :::* Modulatricidae: dapple-throat and allies :::* Nectariniidae: sunbirds :::* Dicaeidae: flowerpeckers :::* Chloropseidae: leafbirds :::* Irenidae: fairy-bluebirds :::* Peucedramidae: olive warbler :::* Urocynchramidae: Przewalski's finch :::* Ploceidae: weavers :::* Viduidae: indigobirds and whydahs :::* Estrildidae: waxbills, munias and allies :::* Prunellidae: accentors :::* Passeridae: Old World sparrows and snowfinches :::*

Motacillidae The wagtails, longclaws, and pipits are a family, Motacillidae, of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. Around 70 species occur in five genera. The longclaws are entirely restricted to the Afrotropics, and the wagtails are predo ...

: wagtails and pipits :::* Fringillidae: finches and euphonias ::*Superfamily Emberizoidea – previously known as the New World

nine-primaried oscines The nine-primaried oscines is a group of bird families in the suborder Passeri (oscines) of the Passeriformes. The composition of the group has changed since the term was introduced but is now considered to consist of seven major families— Fr ...

:::*

Rhodinocichlidae The rosy thrush-tanager (''Rhodinocichla rosea'') or rose-breasted thrush-tanager is a species of bird in the currently monotypic genus ''Rhodinocichla''. It was formerly assigned to the family Thraupidae and more recently viewed as being of u ...

: rosy thrush-tanager :::* Calcariidae: longspurs and snow buntings :::* Emberizidae: buntings :::* Cardinalidae: cardinals :::* Mitrospingidae: mitrospingid tanagers :::* Thraupidae: tanagers and allies :::* Passerellidae: New World sparrows, bush tanagers :::* Parulidae: New World warblers :::*

Icteriidae The yellow-breasted chat (''Icteria virens'') is a large songbird found in North America, and is the only member of the family Icteriidae. It was once a member of the New World warbler family, but in 2017, the American Ornithological Society move ...

: yellow-breasted chat :::*

Icteridae Icterids () or New World blackbirds make up a family, the Icteridae (), of small to medium-sized, often colorful, New World passerine birds. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange, or red. Th ...

: grackles, New World blackbirds, and New World orioles :::*

Calyptophilidae ''Calyptophilus'' is a genus of bird formerly placed in the family Thraupidae. The group was found to be distinct enough to be placed in its own family, Calyptophilidae. Established by Charles Barney Cory in 1884, it contains the following specie ...

: chat-tanagers :::* Zeledoniidae: wrenthrush :::* Teretistridae: Cuban warblers :::* Nesospingidae: Puerto Rican tanager :::* Spindalidae: spindalises :::*

Phaenicophilidae Phaenicophilidae is a family of passerine birds. It consists of three genera and four species, all endemic to Hispaniola, which have been traditionally placed in the families Thraupidae (''Phaenicophilus'') and Parulidae The New World warbl ...

: Hispaniolan tanagers

Phylogeny

Relationships between living Passeriformes families based on the phylogenetic analysis of Oliveros et al (2019). Some terminals have been renamed to reflect families recognised by the IOC but not in that study. The IOC families Alcippeidae and Teretistridae were not sampled in this study.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Extant Eocene first appearances Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus