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 d ...

Passeriformes (; from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power ...

'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

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxon, taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with vertebral column, backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the ...

s, 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 (suboscines), and Passeri (oscines or songbirds). The passerines contain several groups of

brood parasite Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its ow ...

s such as the viduas, cuckoo-finches, and the cowbirds. Most passerines are

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...

, while the

shrike Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in four genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, '' Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also kno ...

s are

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other ...

. The terms "passerine" and "Passeriformes" are derived from the scientific name of the

house sparrow The house sparrow (''Passer domesticus'') is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. It is a small bird that has a typical length of and a mass of . Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, an ...

, ''Passer domesticus'', and ultimately from the

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

Description

The order is divided into three suborders, Tyranni (suboscines), Passeri (oscines or songbirds), and the

basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...

Acanthisitti. Oscines have the best control of their

syrinx In classical Greek mythology, Syrinx (Greek Σύριγξ) was a nymph and a follower of Artemis, known for her chastity. Pursued by the amorous god Pan, she ran to a river's edge and asked for assistance from the river nymphs. In answer, s ...

muscles among birds, producing a wide range of songs and other vocalizations, though some of them, such as the

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term " raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

s, 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 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

, 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 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 ''pla ...

) 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 The tibiotarsus is the large bone between the femur and the tarsometatarsus in the leg of a bird. It is the fusion of the proximal part of the tarsus with the tibia. A similar structure also occurred in the Mesozoic Heterodontosauridae. These sm ...

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 and treecreepers 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 In biology, altricial species are those in which the young are underdeveloped at the time of birth, but with the aid of their parents mature after birth. Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the mome ...

: 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 ...

and nightjars, where camouflage is necessary, and in some

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

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 separat ...

s, which match the passerine host's egg. The

vinous-throated parrotbill The vinous-throated parrotbill (''Sinosuthora webbiana'') is a species of parrotbill in the family Paradoxornithidae; formerly, it was placed in the closely related Sylviidae or Timaliidae. It is found in China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia, T ...

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

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 Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, i ...

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 Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final st ...

(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 ''pal ...

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 Eupasserines are passerines in the clade Eupasseres. The clade contains all passerines except the New Zealand wrens (Acanthisitti), to which they are sister.Selvatti, A.P. ''et al''. (2015A Paleogene origin for crown passerines and the diversifi ...

), and the second split involved the Tyranni (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 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 ...

and numerous minor lineages make up songbird diversity today. Extensive

biogeographical Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

mixing happens, with northern forms returning to the south, southern forms moving north, and so on.

Fossil record

Earliest passerines

Perching bird

osteology Osteology () is the scientific study of bones, practised by osteologists. A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology (biolo ...

, 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 The Queensland Museum is the state museum of Queensland, dedicated to natural history, cultural heritage, science and human achievement. The museum currently operates from its headquarters and general museum in South Brisbane with specialist m ...

specimens F20688 ( carpometacarpus) and F24685 (

) 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 The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but ...

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 Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, New Zealand,

MNZ MNZ or mnz may refer to: * Manassas Regional Airport, USA (by IATA code) * Museum of New Zealand * Moni language, spoken in Indonesia (by ISO 639 code) * Metronidazole, an antibiotic * Maddie Ziegler, a dancer, and actress * Mainz, German ...

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

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 ''Winnicavis'' is a genus of passerine bird from the Early Oligocene of Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering a ...

'' (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?) 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 recent" ...

(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 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 finally confirmed ...

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 A chronospecies is a species derived from a sequential development pattern that involves continual and uniform changes from an extinct ancestral form on an evolutionary scale. The sequence of alterations eventually produces a population that is p ...

and paleosubspecies.

American fossils

In the Americas, the fossil record is more scant before the Pleistocene, from which several still-existing suboscine families are documented. Apart from the indeterminable

MACN The Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Argentine Museum ( es, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia) is a public museum located in the Caballito section of Buenos Aires, Argentina. History and overview The museum owes it ...

-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 ''Palaeoscinis'' (meaning "ancient oscine") is an extinct genus of songbird described in 1957 from the middle Miocene of the Monterey Formation in Santa Barbara, California. It is assigned to the extinct monotypic family Palaeoscinidae, and cont ...

''. ''"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 parvor ...

Systematics and taxonomy

The Passeriformes is currently divided into three suborders: Acanthisitti (New Zealand wrens), Tyranni (suboscines) and Passeri (oscines or songbirds). The Passeri is now subdivided into two major groups recognized now as Corvides and Passerida respectively containing the large superfamilies

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 * Ifr ...

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 s ...

, 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 parvor ...

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 spe ...

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 ecolo ...

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 In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

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 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 in ...

–

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

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.

Nuthatch The nuthatches () constitute a genus, ''Sitta'', of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs. Mo ...

es,

wren Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonl ...

s, 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 The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

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

* Infraorder Corvides – previously known as the parvorder

:::* Cinclosomatidae: jewel-babblers, quail-thrushes :::* Campephagidae: cuckooshrikes and trillers :::* Mohouidae: whiteheads :::* Neosittidae: sittellas ::*Superfamily Orioloidea :::* Psophodidae: whipbirds :::*

Eulacestomatidae The wattled ploughbill (''Eulacestoma nigropectus'') is a small bird from New Guinea. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Eulacestoma'' and family Eulacestomatidae. It is also known as the wattled shrike-tit or ploughshare tit. Taxono ...

: 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 ''F ...

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

:::* Machaerirhynchidae: boatbills :::* Artamidae: woodswallows, butcherbirds, currawongs, and Australian magpie :::* Rhagologidae: mottled berryhunter :::* Malaconotidae: puffback shrikes, bush shrikes, tchagras, and boubous :::* Pityriaseidae: bristlehead :::* Aegithinidae: ioras :::* Platysteiridae: wattle-eyes and batises :::* Vangidae: vangas ::*Superfamily

:::* Rhipiduridae: fantails :::* Dicruridae: drongos :::*

Monarchidae The monarchs (family Monarchidae) comprise a family of over 100 passerine birds which includes shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and magpie-larks. Monarchids are small insectivorous songbirds with long tails. They inhabit forest or woodland ...

: monarch flycatchers :::* Ifritidae: blue-capped ifrit :::* Paradisaeidae: birds-of-paradise :::* Corcoracidae: white-winged chough and apostlebird :::* Melampittidae: melampittas :::* Laniidae: shrikes :::* Platylophidae: jayshrike :::*

Corvidae Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Cu ...

: crows, ravens, and jays Acrocephalus dumetorum

* Infraorder Passerides – 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 kokako ...

: New Zealand wattlebirds :::* Notiomystidae: stitchbird :::* Petroicidae: Australian robins :::* Eupetidae: rail-babbler :::* Picathartidae: rockfowl :::* Chaetopidae: 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 system ...

: fairy flycatchers :::* Paridae: tits, chickadees and titmice :::* Remizidae: penduline tits :::* Panuridae: bearded reedling :::* Alaudidae: larks :::* Nicatoridae: 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: black-capped donacobius :::* Bernieridae: 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: ground babblers GouldianFinches

::*Superfamily Aegithaloidea :::* Phylloscopidae: leaf-warblers and allies :::* Hyliidae: hylias :::*

Aegithalidae The bushtits or long-tailed tits, are a family, Aegithalidae, of small passerine birds with long tails, compared to their size. The family contains 13 species in three genera, all but one of which are found in Eurasia. Bushtits are active birds, ...

: long-tailed tits or bushtits :::* Scotocercidae: streaked scrub warbler :::* Cettiidae: Cettia bush warblers and allies :::* Erythrocercidae: yellow flycatchers Hirundo abyssinica

:* Parvorder

Muscicapida Muscicapida is a clade of birds in the order Passeriformes. Oliveros, C.H. ''et al''. (2019) suggested a Gondwana, gondwanan migration of this lineage from Australia to Eurasia. Systematics The parvorder contains the following 19 families:H Kuh ...

– 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 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 :::* Buphagidae: 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 t ...

: sugarbirds :::* Modulatricidae: dapple-throat and allies :::* Nectariniidae: sunbirds :::* Dicaeidae: flowerpeckers :::* Chloropseidae: leafbirds :::* Irenidae: fairy-bluebirds :::* Peucedramidae: olive warbler :::* Urocynchramidae: Przewalski's finch :::*

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

: weavers :::*

: indigobirds and whydahs :::* Estrildidae: waxbills, munias and allies :::* Prunellidae: accentors :::* Passeridae: Old World sparrows and snowfinches :::* Motacillidae: wagtails and pipits :::*

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

: 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—Fringi ...

:::* Rhodinocichlidae: rosy thrush-tanager :::* Calcariidae: longspurs and snow buntings :::* Emberizidae: buntings :::* Cardinalidae: cardinals :::*

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 :::*

Thraupidae The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird 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% of the Neotrop ...

: tanagers and allies :::*

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 t ...

: 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 m ...

: yellow-breasted chat :::* Icteridae: 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 The wrenthrush or zeledonia (''Zeledonia coronata'') is a unique species of nine-primaried oscine bird which is endemic to Costa Rica and Panama. Taxonomy and systematics The wrenthrush is the only member of its genus and family. Despite its ...

: 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