Passerida is, under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two

parvorder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

s contained within the suborder

Passeri 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 5,00 ...

(standard

taxonomic 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme of classes (a taxonomy) and the allocation ...

practice would place them at the rank of

infraorder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between Family_(biology), family and Class_(biology), class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classific ...

). While more recent research suggests that its sister parvorder,

Corvida The "Corvida" were one of two "parvorders" contained within the suborder Passeri, as proposed in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, the other being Passerida. Standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder. More recent res ...

, is not a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

grouping, the Passerida as a distinct

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

are widely accepted.

Systematics and phylogeny

The Passerida quite certainly consist of the 3 ''major'' subclades outlined by Sibley & Ahlquist (1990). However, their content has been much revised. In addition, it has turned out that not all passeridan lineages neatly fit into this arrangement. The

kinglet A kinglet is a small bird in the family Regulidae. Species in this family were formerly classified with the Old World warblers. "Regulidae" is derived from the Latin word ''regulus'' for "petty king" or prince, and refers to the coloured crowns ...

s are so distinct that they might actually form a separate

, as they are only slightly less basal than the

Corvoidea Corvoidea is a superfamily of birds in the order of Passeriformes. Systematics Corvoidea contains the following families: * Vireonidae – vireos * Rhipiduridae – fantails * Dicruridae – drongos * Monarchidae – monarch flycatchers * ...

or the Picathartidae. See Jønsson & Fjeldså (2006) for details on

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

Superfamily Sylvioidea

Mostly smallish insectivores, distribution centered on the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

region. Few occur in the Americas, highest diversity of families probably in subtropical East Asia and tropical Africa. Relationships of the latter are still not well-resolved as of 2019. Includes the "

Old World babbler The Old World babblers or Timaliidae, are a family (biology), family of mostly Old World passerine birds. They are rather diverse in size and coloration, but are characterised by soft, fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the g ...

s" and "

Old World warbler The Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. They are not closely related to the New World warblers. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxo ...

", two highly

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

" wastebin taxa" which for long united the bulk of the thrush-sized and sparrow-sized sylvioids, respectively. Sometimes, they were even united with the muscicapoids as one huge "family" including most "songsters". Usually skulking in shrubby vegetation, many are extremely drab (most of birdwatchers' " little brown jobs" belong here) and rely on complex and often melodious vocalizations as social signals; others are less accomplished singers but produce a diversity of squeaking and twittering calls. The sexes usually look alike, though in some the males are noticeably brighter, typically with vivid yellow, green and blackish hues. Red plumage is usually due to

phaeomelanin Melanin (; ) is a family of biomolecules organized as oligomers or polymers, which among other functions provide the pigments of many organisms. Melanin pigments are produced in a specialized group of cells known as melanocytes. There are ...

s rather than carotins, and blue coloration is rarely found in this superfamily. Even in the more colorful species the plumage is usually quite cryptic in the natural habitat, but numerous have contrasting facial patterns. *

Leiothrichidae The laughingthrushes are a family, Leiothrichidae, of Old World passerine birds. The family contains 133 species and is divided into 16 genera. The species are diverse in size and coloration. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest v ...

: laughingthrushes and allies *

Pellorneidae The ground 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 ...

: fulvettas, ground babblers * Timaliidae: babblers, scimitar babblers *

Zosteropidae The white-eyes are a family, Zosteropidae, of small passerine birds native to tropical, subtropical and temperate Sub-Saharan Africa, southern and eastern Asia, and Australasia. White-eyes inhabit most tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, the ...

: white-eyes *

Sylviidae Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that includes the typical warblers ''Sylvia'', and closely related genus '' Curruca'', formerly included in ''Sylvia''. They are found in Eurasia and Africa, with the greatest diversity in the Mediterrane ...

: sylviid babblers * Cettiidae: cettia bush warblers and allies * Scotocercidae: streaked scrub warbler *

Erythrocercidae ''Erythrocercus'' is a genus of birds containing three flycatchers that are found in Africa. The genus is placed in its own family (biology), family Erythrocercidae that was introduced by Silke Fregin and collaborators in 2012. Species The ge ...

: yellow flycatchers *

Aegithalidae The bushtits or long-tailed tits are small passerine birds from the family (biology), family Aegithalidae, containing 13 species in three genera, all but one of which (''Psaltriparus'') are found in Eurasia. Bushtits are active birds with long t ...

: bushtits *

Hyliidae Hyliidae is a family of passerine birds which contains just two species, the green hylia (''Hylia prasina'') and the tit hylia (''Pholidornis rushiae''). Physiological similarities and molecular phylogenetic studies strongly support the creat ...

: doubtfully distinct from Cettiidae; not recognised by Gill and Donsker who consider the

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

'' Hylia'' and '' Pholidornis'' as ''

Incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

''. *

Phylloscopidae Leaf warblers are small insectivorous passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Phylloscopus''. Leaf warblers were formerly included in the Old World warbler family but are now considered to belong to the family Phylloscopidae, introduced in 2006 ...

: leaf warblers and allies. *

Pycnonotidae The bulbuls are members of a family (biology), family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized perching bird, passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The family is distributed across most of Africa and in ...

: bulbuls *

Hirundinidae The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The t ...

: swallows, martins * Bernieridae: Madagascan warblers * Donacobiidae: black-capped donacobius *

Locustellidae Locustellidae is a recently recognised family of small insectivorous songbirds (" warblers"), formerly placed in the Old World warbler " wastebin" family. It contains the grasshopper warblers, grassbirds, and the '' Bradypterus'' " bush war ...

: grassbirds and allies * Acrocephalidae: reed warblers and allies * Pnoepygidae: cupwings *

Cisticolidae The family Cisticolidae is a group of about 160 warblers, small passerine birds found mainly in warmer southern regions of the Old World. They were formerly included within the Old World warbler family Sylviidae. This family probably originated ...

: cisticolas and allies * Macrosphenidae: crombecs, African warblers *

Alaudidae Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...

: larks * Panuridae:

bearded reedling The bearded reedling (''Panurus biarmicus'') is a small, long-tailed passerine bird found in reed beds near water in the temperate zone of Eurasia. It is frequently known as the bearded tit or the bearded parrotbill, as it historically was beli ...

* Nicatoridae: nicators

Superfamily Muscicapoidea

Generally middle-sized insectivores, with frugivory also very important; near-global distribution centered on Old World

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

. One family is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the Americas, two are almost cosmopolitan, but half the families are absent or nearly so from the Americas (and Australia). Many have strong legs and are capable of running on the ground quickly. Some brightly colored (often with dark bluish hues and/or

iridescence Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear gradually to change colour as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Iridescence is caused by wave interference of light in microstru ...

) and in such cases usually strongly

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

; more often, however, sexes rather alike, with drab brownish plumage spotted and streaked (particularly on the underside) for camouflage. Many have highly accomplished, complex, melodious and loud songs; a considerable number is capable of sophisticated vocal mimicry. * Cinclidae: dippers *

Muscicapidae The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia), with the exception of several vagrants and two species, bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica'') and north ...

: Old World flycatchers and chats. Monophyly needs confirmation. *

Turdidae The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flyca ...

: thrushes and allies. Monophyly needs confirmation. * Buphagidae: oxpeckers. Formerly usually included in Sturnidae. * Sturnidae: starlings and possibly Philippine creepers. Placement of latter in Muscicapoidea seems robust, but inclusion in Sturnidae requires confirmation; possibly distinct family Rhabdornithidae. * Mimidae: mockingbirds and thrashers

Superfamily Passeroidea

Mostly smallish herbivores, near-global distribution centered on

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

and Americas. Often pronounced

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

with males among the most colorful birds alive. Songs tend to be fairly simple warbling and chirping, with many species relying as much or more on visual mating displays. Includes the

nine-primaried oscine 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—Fringi ...

s (probably a subclade). The basal radiation is mostly found in the

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

, with only Motacillidae naturally occurring in the Americas and Estrildidae in Australia. The nine-primaried oscines unite most birds commonly called "sparrows" in North American and "finches" in European English, as well as a number of other mostly American groups. They are divided into the fringillid radiation which is largely restricted to the Old World, and the numerous emberizoid families of the Americas, of which in turn only Emberizidae and the Arctic circumpolar Calcariidae have reached the Old World unaided by humans. Besides these, the singular olive warbler from North to Central America apparently represents a very ancient "

living fossil A living fossil is a Deprecation, deprecated term for an extant taxon that phenotypically resembles related species known only from the fossil record. To be considered a living fossil, the fossil species must be old relative to the time of or ...

" passeroid; its relationships were long disputed as its outward appearance and ecology resemble '' Setophaga'' warblers, but its anatomy is in some aspects convergent or symplesiomorphic with sylvioids. *

Passeridae Old World sparrows are a group of small passerine birds forming the family Passeridae. They are also known as true sparrows, a name also used for a particular genus of the family, '' Passer''. They are distinct from both the New World sparrows, ...

: true sparrows * Prunellidae: accentors * Urocynchramidae: Przewalski's finch. Recently split from Fringillidae; tentatively placed here. *

Estrildidae Estrildidae, or estrildid finches, is a family of small seed-eating passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They comprise species commonly known as munias, mannikins, firefinches, parrotfinches and waxbills. They are gregarious ...

: estrildid finches (waxbills, munias, etc.) *

Ploceidae Ploceidae is a family of small passerine birds, many of which are called weavers, weaverbirds, weaver finches, or bishops. These names come from the nests of intricately woven vegetation created by birds in this family. In most recent classificat ...

: weavers. Certain members of Ploceidae, such as the long-tailed widowbird are well known for their elaborate sexual ornaments. *

Viduidae The indigobirds, whydahs and cuckoo-finch make up the family Viduidae; they are small passerine birds native to Africa. These are Finch, finch-like species which usually have black or indigo predominating in their plumage. The birds named "whyda ...

: indigobirds and whydahs *

Nine-primaried oscine 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—Fringi ...

s **

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

: wagtails and pipits ** Peucedramidae: olive warbler **

Fringillidae The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches generally have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where the ...

: true finches. Includes the

Hawaiian honeycreeper Hawaiian honeycreepers are a group of small birds endemic to Hawaii. They are members of the finch family Fringillidae, closely related to the rosefinches (''Carpodacus''), but many species have evolved features unlike those present in any othe ...

s ** Emberizoidea: New World nine-primaried oscine radiation ***

Icteridae Icterids () or New World blackbirds make up a family, the Icteridae (), of small to medium-sized, often colorful, New World passerine birds. The family contains 108 species and is divided into 30 genera. Most species have black as a predominant ...

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

Parulidae The New World warblers or wood-warblers are a group of small, often colorful, passerine birds that make up the family Parulidae and are restricted to the New World. The family contains 120 species. They are not closely related to Old World warb ...

: New World warblers *** Icteriidae: yellow-breasted chat ***

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 (''Xenoligea'', ''Microl ...

: Hispaniolan tanagers ***

Zeledoniidae The wrenthrush (''Zeledonia coronata'') or zeledonia, is a unique species of nine-primaried oscine, endemic to the Talamancan montane forests. Taxonomy and systematics The wrenthrush is the only member of its genus and family. Despite its na ...

: wrenthrush *** Teretistridae: Cuban warblers ***

Thraupidae The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family (biology), family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12 ...

: tanagers and allies ***

Mitrospingidae The Mitrospingidae is a family of passerine birds. It consists of three genera and four species. The family is found in South America and southern Central America. The family was identified in 2013, and consists of birds that have been traditiona ...

: mitrospingid tanagers and allies *** Rhodinocichlidae: rosy thrush tanager *** Calyptophilidae: chat-tanagers *** Nesospingidae: Puerto Rican tanager *** Spindalidae: spindalises ***

Cardinalidae Cardinalidae (sometimes referred to as "cardinal-grosbeaks" or simply "cardinals") is a family of New World-Endemism, endemic passerine birds that consists of Cardinalis, cardinals, grosbeaks, and Passerina, buntings. It also includes several ot ...

: cardinal-grosbeaks *** Emberizidae: buntings ***

Passerellidae New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share th ...

: American sparrows ***

Calcariidae Calcariidae is a small family (biology), family of passerine birds. It includes longspurs and snow buntings. There are six species in three genera worldwide, found mainly in North America and Eurasia. They are migratory and can live in a variety ...

: snow buntings and longspurs

Passerida ''incertae sedis''

Rather basal Passerida, most of which seem to constitute several small but distinct superfamilies. Most occur in Asia, Africa and North America. * Possible superfamily "Dicaeoidea" – sunbirds and flowerpeckers. Small frugivores/nectarivores of the Old World tropics, typically sexually dimorphic, with bright and/or iridescent colors in males. Songs are simple chirping whistles. **

Nectariniidae Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathers, particularly i ...

: sunbirds **

Dicaeidae The flowerpeckers are a family (biology), family, Dicaeidae, of passerine birds. The family comprises three genera, ''Dicaeum'', ''Prionochilus'' and ''Pachyglossa'', with 56 species in total. The family has sometimes been included in an enlarge ...

: flowerpeckers * Possible superfamily Bombycilloidea – waxwings and allies. Mid-sized, mostly

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

frugivores; plumage silky and dark to greyish-brownish, with little if any sexual dimorphism. Ringing calls and usually quite vocal, but no dedicated song. **

Bombycillidae The waxwings are three species of passerine birds classified in the genus ''Bombycilla''. They are pinkish-brown and pale grey with distinctive smooth plumage in which many body feathers are not individually visible, a black and white eyestripe ...

: waxwings ** Dulidae: palmchat. Tentatively placed here. ** Ptiliogonatidae: silky flycatchers. Tentatively placed here. **

Hypocoliidae The grey hypocolius or simply hypocolius (''Hypocolius ampelinus'') is a small passerine bird species. It is the sole member of the genus ''Hypocolius'' and it is placed in a family of its own, the Hypocoliidae. This slender and long tailed bird ...

: hypocolius. Tentatively placed here. ** †

Mohoidae Mohoidae, also known as the Hawaiian honeyeaters, was a Family (biology), family of Hawaiian species of now Holocene extinction event, recently Extinction, extinct, Nectarivore, nectarivorous songbirds in the genera ''Moho (genus), Moho'' (ōō) ...

: Hawaiian honeyeaters. Tentatively placed here. * Possible superfamily Paroidea – titmice and allies. Small, round-headed, with tiny pointed bills. Forage acrobatically among twigs, mostly eating small insects and seeds. Generally

Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

, ranging into the Old World tropics and North America. Little if any sexual dimorphism; may be brownish-grey or fairly bright and multicolored. In any case head plumage usually either fairly uniform and greyish, or with black markings, and/or crested. Songs usually repetitive chirped phrases. **

Paridae The tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute the Paridae, a family of small passerine birds which occur mainly in the Northern Hemisphere and Africa. Many were formerly classified in the genus ''Parus''. Eurasian and African members of this f ...

: tits, chickadees and titmice ** Remizidae: penduline tits. Sometimes included in Paridae. ** Stenostiridae: stenostirids ("flycatcher-tits"). A newly assembled family; sometimes included in Paridae. * Possible superfamily Certhioidea (or Sittoidea) – wrens and allies. Insectivores, usually tiny. Expert climbers, most are capable of running up vertical trees or cliffs, some can even climb head-downwards. Predominantly palearctic, but two families entirely or almost so American, and one restricted to the Old World tropics. Little sexual dimorphism; plumage either greyish and fairly uniform at least on the upperside, or brown above, lighter below, and heavily streaked. Clear whistled vocalizations, usually melodic and louder than one would expect from birds of their size. Songs often complex, e.g. with social duetting, and apparently very important in species recognition. ** Sittidae: nuthatches ** Tichodromadidae: wallcreeper. Tentatively placed here. ** Certhiidae: treecreepers ** Troglodytidae: wrens ** Polioptilidae: gnatcatchers * Possible monotypic superfamily N.N.: sugarbirds ( Promeropidae).
Similar to, but not relatives of, the Australasian

honeyeater The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New Gui ...

s; 2 species restricted to the Cape Floral Region and mainly feeding on

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family (biology), family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genus, genera with about 1,660 known species. Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentr ...

nectar and associated insects. Medium-sized, with extremely long tails; drab coloration resembling a muscicapoid, sexes almost alike. Vocalizations similar to honeyeaters; males have specialized wing feathers that produce noise during courtship flights. * Possible monotypic superfamily N.N.: hyliotas ( Hyliotidae; formerly in Sylviidae).
4 species of smallish insectivorous "warblers" from tropical African woodlands. Two- or three-toned, medium grey to blackish above, more or less intense yellowish below, some species with white wing markings. Sexual dimorphism slight; whistling calls. * Possible monotypic superfamily Reguloidea – kinglets ( Regulidae).
Tentatively placed here; may belong in Certhioidea. Some 5 species of tiny rotund Holarctic woodland insectivores. The smallest songbirds, and as a family the smallest living birds altogether by average length. Greenish-brownish above, dull whitish below, and with a bright yellow to red central patch on the top of the head. Rapid twittering high-pitched chirps, easier heard than seen. Unlike

hummingbirds Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

which lay only 2 eggs per clutch and can live up to a dozen years or more, kinglets are (together with some small

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New ...

s) the most ''r''-selected birds alive, with clutch sizes of around 10 eggs, a maximum lifespan of merely around 5 years even in captivity, and an annual mortality of 80%. *Possible monotypic superfamily Petroicoidea - Australasian robins (Petroicidae). This potential superfamily contains 51 species, including 19 genera and 6 subfamilies. They are confined largely to Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and an assortment of Pacific islands. Most species have a compact build with a large, rounded head, a short, straight bill, and rounded wingtips. Some species of Petroicidae exhibit exceptional intelligence.Hunt, S., Low, J., & Burns, K. C. (2008) "Adaptive numerical competency in a food-hoarding songbird" ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences'' 275: 2373 - 2379

Probably not Passerida

These lineages have been assigned to the Passerida in recent times, often based on DNA-DNA hybridization data. However, they are probably more basal among the songbirds and would belong either to the

or the allied basal lineages. Most of them are either African or Wallacean groups. * Aegithinidae: ioras. Formerly in Irenidae, and may be closely related; possibly Corvoidea closely related to

cuckooshrike The cuckooshrikes and allies in the family (biology), family Campephagidae are small to medium-sized passerine bird species found in the subtropical and tropical Africa, Asia and Australasia. The 93 species are divided into 11 genus, genera. The ...

s. * Chloropseidae: leafbirds. Formerly in Irenidae, and may be closely related. *

Irenidae The three fairy-bluebirds are small passerine bird species found in forests and plantations in tropical southern Asia and the Philippines. They are the sole members of the genus ''Irena'' and family Irenidae, and are related to the ioras and le ...

; fairy-bluebirds. Formerly in "Timaliidae" or Pycnonotidae. * Melanocharitidae: berrypeckers and longbills. Formerly in Dicaeidae; possibly Corvoidea closely related to cuckooshrikes. * Paramythiidae: tit berrypecker and crested berrypeckers. Formerly in Dicaeidae or Melanocharitidae; possibly Corvoidea closely related to whipbirds. * Picathartidae: rockfowl. Formerly in "Timaliidae", but possibly close to rockjumpers (''Chaetops'') and sometimes considered the basal living branch of the Passerida. * Chaetopidae: rockjumpers. Possibly close to

rockfowl The picathartes, rockfowl, or bald crows are a small genus of two passerine bird species forming the family Picathartidae found in the rain-forests of tropical west and central Africa. They have unfeathered heads, and feed on insects and inverteb ...

s (''Picathartes''). * Platysteiridae: wattle-eyes or puffback flycatchers. Formerly in Muscicapidae; probably Corvoidea closely related to bush-shrikes.

References

* * Harshman, John (2008)
Passerida. Version 23 June 2008 (under construction).
in The Tree of Life Web Project. Retrieved 24 January 2011. * Sibley, Charles Gald & Ahlquist, Jon Edward (1990): ''Phylogeny and classification of birds''. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn. {{Taxonbar, from=Q764420 Bird infraorders Passeri