Sylvioidea is a superfamily of

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin '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 th ...

birds, one of at least three major

clades A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term ...

within the

Passerida 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 ...

along with the Muscicapoidea 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 ...

. It contains about 1300 species including 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 ...

Old World babbler The Old World babblers or Timaliidae are a 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 greatest variety in S ...

swallow 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 ...

lark 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 oc ...

s and

bulbul The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropical ...

s. Members of the clade are found worldwide, but fewer species are present in the Americas.

Systematics

The superfamily Sylvioidea was first proposed in 1990 in the

Sibley–Ahlquist taxonomy of birds The Sibley–Ahlquist taxonomy is a bird taxonomy proposed by Charles Sibley and Jon E. Ahlquist. It is based on DNA–DNA hybridization studies conducted in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. DNA–DNA hybridization is among a class of ...

based on

DNA–DNA hybridization In genomics, DNA–DNA hybridization is a molecular biology technique that measures the degree of genetic similarity between pools of DNA sequences. It is usually used to determine the genetic distance between two organisms and has been used ext ...

experiments. More recent studies based on comparison of DNA sequences have failed to support the inclusion of some families such as

Certhiidae 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 ...

(treecreepers),

Sittidae 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 ...

(nuthatches),

Paridae The tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute the Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur mainly in the Northern Hemisphere and Africa. Most were formerly classified in the genus ''Parus''. Members of this family are comm ...

(tits and chickadees) and Regulidae (goldcrests and kinglets) but instead support the addition of

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 oc ...

(larks). Some of the families within the Sylvioidea have been greatly redefined. In particular, the Old World warbler family Sylviidae and Old World babbler family Timaliidae were used as

wastebin taxa Wastebasket taxon (also called a wastebin taxon, dustbin taxon or catch-all taxon) is a term used by some taxonomists to refer to a taxon that has the sole purpose of classifying organisms that do not fit anywhere else. They are typically define ...

and included many species which have turned out not to be closely related. Several new families have been created and some species have been moved from one family to another.Boyd, John H. (2010)
Sylvioidea

'. Retrieved 2010-01-07.

List of families

This list of 25 families is based on the

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published by Silke Fregin and colleagues in 2012. and the revisions of the babbler group by Cai et al (2019) The family sequence and number of species is from the online list of world birds maintained by Frank Gill and David Donsker on behalf of the

International Ornithological Committee 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). * Nicatoridae: nicators (3 species) * Panuridae:

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 ...

(1 species) *

: larks (98 species) *

Pycnonotidae The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropical A ...

: bulbuls (160 species) *

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 ...

: swallows, martins (88 species) * Pnoepygidae: cupwings (5 species) *

Macrosphenidae The African warblers are a newly erected family Macrosphenidae, of songbirds. Most of the species were formerly placed in the Old World warbler family Sylviidae, although one species, the rockrunner, was placed in the babbler family, Timaliidae. ...

: crombecs, African warblers (18 species) *

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, ce ...

: ''Cettia'' bush warblers and allies (32 species) * Scotocercidae: streaked scrub warbler (1 species) * Erythrocercidae: yellow flycatchers (3 species) *

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 ...

: hylias (2 species) *

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, ...

: bushtits (13 species) *

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 200 ...

: leaf warblers and allies (80 species) *

Acrocephalidae The Acrocephalidae (the reed warblers, marsh- and tree-warblers, or acrocephalid warblers) are a family of oscine passerine birds, in the superfamily Sylvioidea. The species in this family are usually rather large "warblers". Most are rather p ...

: reed warblers and allies (42 species) *

Locustellidae Locustellidae is a newly recognized family of small insectivorous songbirds ("warblers"), formerly placed in the Old World warbler " wastebin" family. It contains the grass warblers, grassbirds, and the '' Bradypterus'' " bush warblers". These b ...

: grassbirds and allies (67 species) * Donacobiidae: black-capped donacobius (1 species) * Bernieridae: Madagascan warblers (11 species) *

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 (163 species) * Babbler group: **

Sylviidae Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that includes the typical warblers and a number of babblers formerly placed within the Old World babbler family. They are found in Eurasia and Africa. Taxonomy and systematics The scientific name Sylvi ...

: sylviid babblers (34 species) ** Paradoxornithidae: parrotbills (37 species) **

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 (146 species) ** Timaliidae: babblers, scimitar babblers (57 species) **

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 ...

: fulvettas, ground babblers (65 species) ** Alcippeidae: Alcippe fulvettas (10 species) **

Leiothrichidae The laughingthrushes are a family, Leiothrichidae, of Old World passerine birds. They are diverse in size and coloration. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The entire fami ...

: laughingthrushes and allies (133 species)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2862448 Bird superfamilies Extant Oligocene first appearances