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List of passerine families

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Taxonomic list of Passeriformes families[]

Reiflman Acanthisitta chloris crop

Rifleman (female), Acanthisitiidae or tītitipounamu (Acanthisitta chloris), one of the 2 surviving species of suborder Acanthisitti.

Eurylaimus javanicus - Khao Yai

Banded broadbill, Eurylaimidae

This list is in taxonomic order, placing related species/groups next to each other. The Passerida subdivisions are updated as needed from the default sequence of the Handbook of the Birds of the World,[1] based on the most modern and comprehensive studies.[2]


Suborder Acanthisitti[]

File:Pitta iris.jpg

Rainbow Pitta (Pitta iris), a fairly dark ground-living bird with brilliant color patches, like most Pittidae.

Eupasseres[]

Suborder Tyranni[]

The suborder Tyranni are also called suboscines.

Infraorder Eurylaimides[]

Golden-headed Manakin

Adult male Golden-headed Manakins (Pipra erythrocephala) have striking display plumage, as do line with many of their relatives.

Infraorder Tyrannides[]

New World suboscines

Superfamily Tyrannida[]

Superfamily Furnariida[]

Atrichornis-clamosus

Noisy Scrub-bird (Atrichornis clamosus), one of the most plesiomorphic Passeri.

Passeri[]

"Paracorvids"[]

Infraorder Menurida[]

The most ancient true songbirds, endemic to Australia. Considered to be a suborder on the TiF checklist..

Infraorder Climacterida[]

A group of two families endemic to Australasia.

File:Yellow-faced Honeyeater nov07 02.png

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Infraorder Meliphagida[]

Infraorder Orthonychida[]

The massive multigene analysis of Aggerbeck et al. (2014) finds them to be sisters, albeit fairly deeply separated. They split off before the division between the Corvida and Passerida, which means they are in the paracorvids.[3]

Infraorder Corvida[]

Superfamily Mohouoidea[]

Superfamily Orioloidea[]

Superfamily Neosittoidea[]

Superfamily Malaconotoidea[]


File:Male stitchbird.png

Male Stitchbird or hihi (Notiomystis cincta) showing convergence with honeyeaters.

Laniarius barbarus

Yellow-crowned Gonolek (Laniarius barbarus: Malaconotidae)

File:Corvus hawaiiensis in grass.jpg

The Hawaiian Crow or ʻalala (Corvus hawaiiensis) is nearly extinct; only a few dozen birds survive in captivity.

Superfamily Corvoidea[]

A highly diverse group of global distribution, but most plentiful in the Australasian region and surroundings. The oldest truly globally successful group of passerines, they include among them what may well be the most intelligent and the most spectacular of the order.

File:Regentbowerbirdmale.jpg

Male Regent Bowerbird (Sericulus chrysocephalus, Ptilonorhynchidae)

Infraorder Passerida[]

Superfamily Melanocharitoidea[]

Superfamily Cnemophiloidea[]

Superfamily Callaeoidea[]

Superfamily Picathartoidea[]

File:Parus caeruleus1.png

The Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and its relatives stand well apart from rest of the Sylvioidea sensu lato.

Superfamily Paroidea[]

File:Regulus regulus -Vendee, France-8.png

The tiny Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) belongs to a minor but highly distinct lineage of Passeri.

Superfamily Sylvioidea[]

Mostly insectivores, distribution centered on the Indo-Pacific region. Few occur in the Australian region and fewer still in the Americas. Usually sleek and drab birds, few have pronounced sexual dimorphism.

File:Acrocephalus dumetorum.png

Blyth's Reed-warbler (Acrocephalus dumetorum) is now in the Acrocephalidae.

"Nicatoridae-Panuridae-Alaudidae"

"Macrosphenidae"

"Acrocephalus group"

"Swallows, Bulbuls"

"Hyliidae, Aegithalidae, Cettiidae, and Phylloscopidae"

"Babblers and allies"

Superfamily Reguloidea[]

Superfamily Bombycilloidea[]

Superfamily Certhioidea[]

File:Brown-headed Nuthatch-27527-4c.png

Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla). Nuthatches can climb downwards head-first.

Superfamily Muscicapoidea[]

Mostly insectivores, near-global distribution centered on Old World tropics. One family endemic to Americas. Nearly absent (except introductions) from the Australian region. Usually rather stocky for their size, most are quite dark and dull though Sturnidae are commonly iridescent and/or colorful. Sexual dimorphism often absent, sometimes pronounced.

"Oxpeckers, Starlings, Mockingbirds"

"Dippers, Thrushes, Old World flycatchers"

File:Hirundo abyssinica.png

Lesser Striped Swallow (Cecropis abyssinica), showing some apomorphies of its ancient yet highly advanced lineage.

Superfamily Passeroidea[]

Mostly herbivores including many seed-eaters, near-global distribution centered on Palearctic and Americas. Includes the Nine-primaried oscines (probably a subclade). A very high proportion of colorful and highly sexually dimorphic forms.

"Basal Passeroidea"

"Core Passeroidea"

"Estrildid clade"

"Passerid clade"

File:Einsiedlerdrossel.png

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus), like many Muscicapoidea a stout and cryptic bird with complex vocalizations.

File:GouldianFinches.png

Like these male (right) and female Gouldian Finches (Erythrura gouldiae), ...

File:Green-and-Gold Tanager.pmg

... or this Green-and-gold Tanager (Tangara schrankii), many Passeroidea are very colorful.

Nine-primaried oscines[]

"Sibley and Monroe's Fringillidae"

Sibley and Monroe's (1990) Fringillidae included all of the remaining birds, over 1000 of them. Most authors use a finely-grained family structure for these species that roughly corresponds to Sibley and Monroe's tribes. The TIF taxonomy divides Sibley and Monroe's Fringillidae into 11.[7]

Epifamily Icteroidea

"Buntings and Sparrows"

"Blackbirds and Warblers"

"Thraupid group"

References[]

  1. ^ del Hoyo et al. (2003–)
  2. ^ Lovette & Bermingham (2000), Cibois et al. (2001), Barker et al. (2002, 2004), Ericson & Johansson (2003), Beresford et al. (2005), Alström et al. (2006), Jønsson & Fjeldså (2006)
  3. ^ Aggerbeck, M., J. Fjeldså, L. Christidis, P.-H. Fabre, K.A. Jønsson (2014), Resolving deep lineage divergences in core corvoid passerine birds supports a proto-Papuan island origin, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 70, 272-285.
  4. ^ Gill, F., Wright, M. & Donsker, D. (2008). IOC World Bird Names (version 1.6). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
  5. ^ Lovette, I.J. (2008). Convergent Evolution: Raising a Family from the Dead. Current Biology. Volume 18, Issue 24, 23 December 2008, Pages R1132-R1134.
  6. ^ Fleischer R.C., James H.F., and Olson S.L. (2008). Convergent Evolution of Hawaiian and Australo-Pacific Honeyeaters from Distant Songbird Ancestors. Current Biology, Volume 18, Issue 24, 1927–1931, 11 December 2008.
  7. ^ John H. Boyd III (November 11, 2011). "CORE PASSEROIDEA II: Passeridae through Fringillidae". TiF Checklist. Retrieved 16-05-2025.  Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

Footnotes[]

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