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Songbird

Songbird

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Encyclopedia
A songbird is a bird belonging to the order of Passeriformes (ca. 4000 species), in which the vocal organ
Syrinx (biology)
Syrinx is the name for the vocal organ of birds. Located at the base of a bird's trachea, it produces sounds without the vocal cords of mammals. The sound is produced by vibrations of some or all of the membrana tympaniformis and the pessulus caused by air flowing through the syrinx...

 is developed in such a way as to produce various sound notes, commonly known as bird song
Bird song
Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology, bird 'songs' are often distinguished from shorter sounds, which may be termed 'calls'....

. There is evidence to suggest that songbirds evolved about 50 million years ago in the western part of Gondwana
Gondwana
Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, is the name given to a southern precursor-supercontinent. Its final joining occurred between ca. 570 and 510 Ma ago, joining East Gondwana to West Gondwana. It later separated from Laurasia 180- during the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent that existed about...

 that later became Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea, located north of Australia, is the world's second largest island. It became separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period. The name Papua has long been associated with the island...

 and Antarctica, before spreading around the world.

This 'bird song' is essentially territorial in that it communicates the identity and whereabouts of an individual to other birds and also signals sexual intentions. It is not to be confused with bird calls, which are used for alarms and contact, and are especially important in birds that feed or migrate in flocks.

Other birds have songs to attract mates or hold territory, but these are usually simple and repetitive, lacking the variety of many passerine songs. The monotonous repetition of the Common Cuckoo
Common Cuckoo
The Common Cuckoo is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals....

 or Little Crake
Little Crake
The Little Crake is a very small waterbird of the family Rallidae.Their breeding habitat is reed beds in Europe, mainly in the east, and just into western Asia. They nest in a dry location in reed vegetation, laying 4-7 eggs...

 can be contrasted with the variety of a Nightingale
Nightingale
The Nightingale , also known as Rufous and Common Nightingale, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae...

 or Marsh Warbler
Marsh Warbler
The Marsh Warbler, Acrocephalus palustris, is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It breeds in temperate Europe and western Asia. It is migratory, wintering in south east Africa...

.

Although many songbirds have songs which are pleasant to the human ear, this is not invariably the case. Many members of the crow
Crow
The true crows are large passerine birds that form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-sized jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on...

 family make croaks or screeches which sound harsh to humans.

Taxonomy


Under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy
Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy
The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy is a radical bird taxonomy proposed by Charles Sibley and Jon Edward Ahlquist. It is based on DNA-DNA hybridization studies conducted in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s....

 this suborder is divided into two "parvorders", Corvida
Corvida
The "Corvida" were one of two "parvorders" contained within the suborder Passeri, as proposed in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy. Standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder....

 and Passerida
Passerida
Passerida is under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two "parvorders" contained within the suborder Passeri...

 (standard taxonomic practice would rank these as infraorders). However, more recent research is casting doubt on the existence of Corvida as a single clade
Clade
A clade is a term used in modern alpha taxonomy, the scientific classification of living and fossil organisms, to describe a monophyletic group, defined as a group consisting of a single common ancestor and all its descendants.The term "monophyletic group" is used in this article...

, but given the present lack of any generally accepted redivision of Corvida into two or more groupings at the parvorderial level, the families of suborder Passeri are listed below as being in either Corvida or Passerida.

Corvida

  • Menuridae
    Lyrebird
    A Lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds, most notable for their superb ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment. Lyrebirds have unique plumes of neutral coloured tailfeathers....

    : lyrebird
    Lyrebird
    A Lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds, most notable for their superb ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment. Lyrebirds have unique plumes of neutral coloured tailfeathers....

    s
  • Atrichornithidae: scrub birds
  • Climacteridae: Australian treecreeper
    Treecreeper
    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 ten species in two genera, Certhia and Salpornis...

    s
  • Maluridae
    Maluridae
    The Maluridae are a family of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens of the Northern Hemisphere...

    : fairy-wrens, emu-wren
    Emu-wren
    The emu-wrens are a genus of bird in the fairy-wren family Maluridae. They are found only in Australia where they inhabit scrub, heathland and grassland. They are small birds, 12-19 cm long with the tail accounting for over half of their length...

    s and grasswrens
  • Meliphagidae: honeyeater
    Honeyeater
    The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea...

    s and chat
    Chat
    -Conversation :* Casual conversation* Online chat in an internet chat room or instant messaging system* Synchronous conferencing is the formal term for online chat technology* Bluechat with bluetooth devices* SMS chat with mobil-Geography:...

    s
  • Pardalotidae: pardalote
    Pardalote
    Pardalotes are a family, Pardalotidae, of very small, brightly coloured birds native to Australia, with short tails, strong legs, and stubby blunt beaks. This family is composed of four species in one genus, Pardalotus, and several subspecies. The name derives from a Greek word meaning "spotted"...

    s, scrubwrens, thornbills, and gerygone
    Gerygone
    Gerygone, the gerygones, is a genus of bird in the Acanthizidae family. The genus ranges from South East Asia through New Guinea and Australia to New Zealand and the Chatham Islands...

    s
  • Petroicidae
    Petroicidae
    The bird family Petroicidae includes roughly 45 species in about 15 genera. All are endemic to Australasia or nearby areas. For want of a more accurate common name, the family is often described as the Australasian robins. The family occurs in New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and numerous Pacific...

    : Australian robins
  • Orthonychidae
    Orthonychidae
    The Orthonychidae is a family of birds with a single genus, Orthonyx, which comprises three species of passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea, the Logrunners and the Chowchilla. Some authorities consider the Australian family Cinclosomatidae to be part of the Orthonychidae...

    : logrunners
  • Pomatostomidae: Australasian babbler
    Babbler
    Babbler may refer to:* Old World babbler, a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds* Australo-Papuan babbler, passerine birds endemic to Australia-New Guinea* The Babbler, the journal of BirdLife International in Indochina...

    s
  • Cinclosomatidae
    Cinclosomatidae
    The family Cinclosomatidae contains 9 species of passerine bird, including the 3 whipbirds, 2 wedgebills, and the quail-thrushes. All are native to Australia or nearby areas. The Malaysian Rail-babbler, Eupetes macrocerus, was formerly placed in this family, but is now regarded as an early...

    : whipbirds and allies
  • Neosittidae: sittellas
  • Pachycephalidae
    Pachycephalidae
    The family Pachycephalidae, collectively the whistlers, includes the whistlers, shrike-thrushes, shrike-tits, pitohuis and Crested Bellbird, and is part of the ancient Australo-Papuan radiation of songbirds. Its members range from small to medium in size, and occupy most of Australasia...

    : whistler
    Whistler
    Whistler may refer to:* Someone who whistles* Whistler Group, a brand name of mobile electronic equipment* Whistler , a very low frequency radio phenomenon.* Whistler , Microsoft's Trainable Text-to-Speech Engine....

    s, shrike-thrush
    Shrike-thrush
    Colluricincla is a bird genus in the family Colluricinclidae, which was formerly included in the Pachycephalidae. Its members are known as the shrike-thrushes.It contains the following species:* Bower's Shrike-thrush, Colluricincla boweri...

    es, pitohui
    Pitohui
    Pitohui is a genus of birds endemic to New Guinea, belonging to the family Pachycephalidae.Currently six species are classified in the genus, though current molecular genetics research suggests that significant reclassification of the Pachycephalidae may be needed.-Species:* Variable Pitohui,...

    s and allies
  • Dicruridae: monarch flycatchers and allies
  • Campephagidae: cuckoo shrikes and trillers
  • Oriolidae: orioles and figbird
    Figbird
    The figbirds are a genus of orioles found in wooded habitats in Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Lesser Sundas. The three species have been considered conspecific, but today all major authorities consider them as separate species. The split is primarily based on differences in measurements and...

    s
  • Artamidae
    Artamidae
    The family Artamidae gathers together 20 species of mostly crow-like birds native to Australasia and nearby areas.There are two subfamilies: Artaminae, the woodswallows, are sombre-coloured, soft-plumaged birds that have a brush-tipped tongue but seldom use it for gathering nectar. Instead, they...

    : woodswallow
    Woodswallow
    Woodswallows are soft-plumaged, somber-coloured passerine birds found in Australia and the islands nearby. Given their moderate size—about the same as a Common Starling—and dull plumage, they are amongst the easiest of birds to observe and recognise...

    s, butcherbird
    Butcherbird
    Butcherbirds are magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus. They are native to Australasia. Their closest relatives are the Australian magpie and the three species of currawong. Together they form the subfamily Cracticinae in the family Artamidae which also contains the woodswallows.Butcherbirds are...

    s, currawong
    Currawong
    Currawongs are medium-sized passerine birds of the family Artamidae native to Australasia. There are either three or four species . The common name comes from the call of the familiar Pied Currawong of eastern Australia and is onomatopoeic...

    s and Australian Magpie
    Australian Magpie
    The Australian Magpie is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. A member of the Artamidae, it is closely related to the butcherbirds...

  • Paradisaeidae: birds of paradise
  • Corvidae
    Corvidae
    Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs and nutcrackers. The common English name used is corvids or the crow family , and there are over 120 species...

    : crow
    Crow
    The true crows are large passerine birds that form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-sized jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on...

    s, magpie
    Magpie
    Magpies are passerine birds of the crow family, Corvidae. The names 'jay' and 'magpie' are to an extent interchangeable, although this does not accurately reflect the evolutionary relationship between these birds...

    s, and jay
    Jay
    The jays are several species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the crow family Corvidae. The names jay and magpie are somewhat interchangeable, and the evolutionary relationships are rather complex...

    s
  • Corcoracidae
    Corcoracidae
    The very small and rather unusual passerine family Corcoracidae now contains just two superficially dissimilar species: the White-winged Chough and the Apostlebird. Both are endemic to Australia...

    : White-winged Chough
    White-winged Chough
    The White-winged Chough is one of only two surviving members of the Australian mud-nest builders family, Corcoracidae, and is the only member of the genus Corcorax...

     and Apostlebird
    Apostlebird
    The Apostlebird , also known as the Grey Jumper, is a quick-moving, gray or black bird about 13 inches long. It is a native to Australia where it roams woodlands, eating insects and seeds at, or near, ground level...

  • Irenidae: fairy-bluebird
    Fairy-bluebird
    The two 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 leafbirds.These are bulbul-like birds of open forest or thorn...

    s
  • Laniidae: shrike
    Shrike
    Shrikes are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of thirty one species in three genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes were also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding...

    s
  • Vireonidae: vireo
    Vireo
    The vireos are a group of small to medium-sized passerine birds restricted to the New World. They are typically dull-plumaged and greenish in color, the smaller species resembling wood warblers apart from their heavier bills...

    s
  • Ptilonorhynchidae: bowerbird
    Bowerbird
    This article is about the family of birds called bowerbirds. For the band, see Bowerbirds .Bowerbirds and catbirds make up the bird family Ptilonorhynchidae. The family has 20 species in eight genera. These are medium-sized passerines, ranging from the Golden Bowerbird to the Great Bowerbird...

    s
  • Turnagridae
    Turnagridae
    Turnagridae is a disputed family which consisted of two species of Piopio, passerine birds endemic to New Zealand, both of which are now considered extinct....

    : Piopio
    Piopio
    Piopio may refer to the following:*Piopio, New Zealand, a town in the Waitomo District in the North Island of New Zealand.*a hill in the Ruahine Forest Park in New Zealand....


Passerida


  • Alaudidae: lark
    Lark
    Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. All species occur in the Old World, and in northern and eastern Australia; only one, the Shore Lark, has spread to North America, where it is called the Horned Lark...

    s
  • Chloropseidae: leafbird
    Leafbird
    The leafbirds are a family of small passerine bird species found in India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. They are one of only three bird families that are entirely endemic to the Indomalayan ecozone. They were formerly grouped with the ioras and fairy-bluebirds in the family Irenidae...

    s
  • Aegithinidae: iora
    Iora
    The ioras are a family, Aegithinidae, of small passerine bird species found in India and southeast Asia. The family has only four species in a single genus, Aegithina. They are one of only three bird families that are entirely endemic to the Indomalayan ecozone...

    s
  • Picathartidae: rockfowl
  • Eupetidae: rail-babbler
  • Mohoidae
    Mohoidae
    Mohoidae is a family of Hawaiian species of recently extinct, nectarivorous songbirds in the genera Moho and Chaetoptila...

  • Bombycillidae: waxwing
    Waxwing
    The waxwings form the genus Bombycilla of passerine birds. According to most authorities, this is the only genus placed in the family Bombycillidae.-Description:Waxwings are characterised by soft silky plumage...

    s and allies
  • Ptilogonatidae: silky flycatchers
  • Cinclidae: dipper
    Dipper
    Dippers are members of the genus Cinclus in the bird family Cinclidae. They are named for their bobbing or dipping movements. They are unique among passerines for their ability to dive and swim underwater.-Description:...

    s
  • Motacillidae
    Motacillidae
    The Motacillidae are a family of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. There are around 65 species in 6 genera and they include the wagtails, longclaws and pipits. The longclaws are entirely restricted to the Afrotropics, and the wagtails are predominately found in Europe, Africa and...

    : wagtail
    Wagtail
    The wagtails form the passerine bird genus Motacilla. They are small birds with long tails which they wag frequently. Motacilla, the root of the family and genus name, means moving tail...

    s and pipit
    Pipit
    The pipits are a genus of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. The genus has more than three dozen species. Along with the wagtails and longclaws, the pipits make up the family Motacillidae....

    s
  • Prunellidae: accentor
    Accentor
    The accentors are in the only bird family, the Prunellidae, which is completely endemic to the Palearctic. This small group of closely related passerines are all in a single genus Prunella...

  • Melanocharitidae
    Melanocharitidae
    The Melanocharitidae, the berrypeckers and longbills, is a small bird family restricted to the forests of New Guinea. The family was once placed inside the Flowerpecker family Dicaeidae, and the longbills were once considered to be honeyeaters...

    : berrypecker
    Berrypecker
    Berrypecker may refer to:*One of six species of berrypecker in the bird family Melanocharitidae*One of two species of painted berrypecker in the bird family Paramythiidae...

    s and longbill
    Longbill
    Longbill can refer to:*One of two species of longbill in the bird family Melanocharitidae*One of six species of longbill, African "warblers" in the genera Macrosphenus and Amaurocichla*The longbill spearfish, a species of marlin...

    s
  • Paramythiidae
    Paramythiidae
    The painted berrypeckers, Paramythiidae, are a very small bird family restricted to the mountain forests of New Guinea. The family comprises two species in two genera: the Tit Berrypecker and the Crested Berrypecker . These are colourful medium-sized birds which feed on fruit and some insects...

    : tit berrypecker
    Tit Berrypecker
    The Tit Berrypecker is a species of bird in the Paramythiidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Oreocharis.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea....

     and crested berrypecker
    Crested Berrypecker
    The Crested Berrypecker is a species of bird in the Paramythiidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.-References:...

    s
  • Passeridae
    Sparrow
    True sparrows, the Old World sparrows in the family Passeridae, are small passerine birds. As eight or more species nest in or near buildings, and the House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild...

    : true sparrow
    Sparrow
    True sparrows, the Old World sparrows in the family Passeridae, are small passerine birds. As eight or more species nest in or near buildings, and the House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild...

    s
  • Estrildidae
    Estrildid finch
    The estrildid finches are small passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They can be classified as the family Estrildidae , or previously as a sub-group within the family Passeridae, which also includes the true sparrows....

    : estrildid finches (waxbills, munias, etc)
  • Parulidae: New World warbler
    Warbler
    There are a number of Passeriformes called "warblers". They are not particularly closely related, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal and insectivorous....

    s
  • Thraupidae: tanager
    Tanager
    The tanagers are a family, Thraupidae, of birds in the order Passeriformes. The family has an American distribution.There were traditionally about 240 species of tanagers, but the taxonomic treatment of this family's members is currently in a state of flux...

    s and allies
  • Peucedramidae: Olive Warbler
    Olive Warbler
    The Olive Warbler, Peucedramus taeniatus , is a small passerine bird. It is the only member of the genus Peucedramus and the family Peucedramidae....

  • Fringillidae: true finch
    Finch
    The true finches are passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. They are predominantly seed-eating songbirds. Most are native to Southern Hemisphere, but one subfamily is endemic to the Neotropics, one to the Hawaiian Islands, and one subfamily – monotypic at genus level – is found...

    es
  • Cardinalidae: cardinals
  • Drepanididae: Hawaiian honeycreeper
    Honeycreeper
    The typical honeycreepers are small birds in the tanager family. They are found in the tropical New World from Mexico south to Brazil.They occur in the forest canopy, and, as the name implies, they are specialist nectar feeders with long curved bills....

    s
  • Emberizidae
    Emberizidae
    The Emberizidae are a large family of passerine birds.They are seed-eating birds with a distinctively shaped bill. In Europe, most species are named as buntings....

    : buntings and American sparrow
    Sparrow
    True sparrows, the Old World sparrows in the family Passeridae, are small passerine birds. As eight or more species nest in or near buildings, and the House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild...

    s
  • Nectariniidae: sunbird
    Sunbird
    The sunbirds and spiderhunters are a family, Nectariniidae, of very small passerine birds. There are 132 species in 15 genera. The family is distributed throughout Africa, southern Asia and just reaches northern Australia. Most sunbirds feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects,...

    s
  • Dicaeidae: flowerpecker
    Flowerpecker
    The flowerpeckers are a family, Dicaeidae , of passerine birds. The family comprises two genera, Prionochilus and Dicaeum, with 44 species in total. The family has sometimes been included in an enlarged sunbird family Nectariniidae. The berrypeckers of the family Melanocharitidae and the painted...

    s
  • Mimidae: mockingbird
    Mockingbird
    Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the Mimidae family. They are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of insect and amphibian sounds as well as other bird songs, often loudly and in rapid succession. There are about 17 species in three genera...

    s and thrasher
    Thrasher
    Thrashers are a New World group of passerine birds related to mockingbirds and New World catbirds. Like these, they are in the Mimidae family. There are 15 species in one large and 4 monotypic genera.These do not form a clade but are a phenetic assemblage...

    s
  • Sittidae
    Sittidae
    Sittidae is a family of small passerine birds which has two subfamilies:*Sittinidae, which contains the single genus Sitta containing about 24 species of nuthatches, which are found across Eurasia and North America....

    : nuthatch
    Nuthatch
    The nuthatches are 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...

    es
  • Certhiidae: treecreeper
    Treecreeper
    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 ten species in two genera, Certhia and Salpornis...

    s
  • Troglodytidae: wren
    Wren
    The wrens are passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. There are about 80 species of true wrens in about 20 generaThe genus eponymous of the family is Troglodytes....

    s
  • Polioptilidae: gnatcatcher
    Gnatcatcher
    The 15-20 species of small passerine birds in the gnatcatcher family occur in North and South America . Most species of this mainly tropical and subtropical group are resident, but the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher of the USA and southern Canada migrates south in winter...

    s
  • Paridae: tits, chickadees and titmice
    Titmouse
    The tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur in the northern hemisphere and Africa...

  • Aegithalidae: long-tailed tit
    Long-tailed Tit
    The Long-tailed Tit, Aegithalos caudatus, is a very small passerine bird. It breeds in most of Europe and Asia. It is usually a non-migratory species, although there have been several extralimital records, and migration has been observed in north-eastern Europe.Its family, Aegithalidae, is related...

    s
  • Hirundinidae: swallow
    Swallow
    The swallows and martins are a group of passerine birds in the family Hirundinidae which are characterised by their adaptation to aerial feeding...

    s and martins
  • Regulidae: kinglet
    Kinglet
    The kinglets or crests are a small group of birds sometimes included in the Old World warblers, but are frequently given family status because they also resemble the titmice. The scientific name Regulidae is derived from the Latin word regulus for "petty king" or prince, and comes from the...

    s
  • Pycnonotidae
    Bulbul
    Bulbuls are a family of medium-sized passerine songbirds. Many forest species are known as greenbuls. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropical Asia to Indonesia, and north as far as Japan. A few insular species occur on the tropical islands of the Indian...

    : bulbul
    Bulbul
    Bulbuls are a family of medium-sized passerine songbirds. Many forest species are known as greenbuls. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropical Asia to Indonesia, and north as far as Japan. A few insular species occur on the tropical islands of the Indian...

    s
  • Phylloscopidae
    Phylloscopidae
    Phylloscopidae is a newly described family of small insectivorous birds formerly placed in the Old World warbler family. Its members occur in Eurasia, ranging into Wallacea and Africa...

    : leaf-warblers and allies. Recently split from Sylviidae.
  • Sylviidae: Old World warbler
    Warbler
    There are a number of Passeriformes called "warblers". They are not particularly closely related, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal and insectivorous....

    s
  • Hypocoliidae: Hypocolius
    Hypocolius
    The Hypocolius or Grey Hypocolius is a small passerine bird species. It is the sole member of the genus Hypocolius and family Hypocoliidae.-Taxonomy:The relationships of the species are unclear...

  • Cisticolidae
    Cisticolidae
    The Cisticolidae family of small passerine birds is a group of about 110 warblers found mainly in warmer southern regions of the Old World. They are often included within the Old World warbler family Sylviidae....

    : cisticola
    Cisticola
    Cisticolas are a genus of very small insectivorous birds formerly classified in the Old World warbler family Sylviidae, but now usually considered to be in the separate family Cisticolidae, along with other southern warbler genera. They are believed to be quite closely related to the swallows and...

    s and allies
  • Icteridae: American blackbirds
    Icterid
    The Icterids are a group of small to medium, often colourful passerine birds restricted to the New World. Most species have black as a predominant plumage colour, often enlivened by yellow, orange or red. The name, meaning "jaundiced ones" comes from the Ancient Greek ikteros, through the Latin...

    , New World oriole
    New World oriole
    New World orioles, comprising the genus Icterus, are a group of birds in the Icteridae family. They are not related to the Old World orioles which are in the family Oriolidae, but are strikingly similar in size, diet, behaviour and their yellow-and-black plumage, a good example of convergent...

    s, grackle
    Grackle
    A Grackle is a gregarious, passerine bird native to North and South America. Each of the 11 species of grackle belongs to the Icterid family. The species are:* Genus Quiscalus** Boat-tailed Grackle, Quiscalus major...

    s and cowbird
    Cowbird
    Cowbirds are birds belonging to the genus Molothrus in the family Icteridae. They are brood parasitic New World birds which are unrelated to the Old World cuckoos, one of which, the Common Cuckoo, is the best-known brood parasitic bird....

    s.
  • Zosteropidae
    White-eye
    White-eye can refer to:*White-eye , a large family of birds.*White-eye , a species of fish.*White-eye mutation, a mutation in Drosophila melanogaster linked to the X chromosome, found by reciprocal cross breeding experiments in 1906.*A lioness member of the Marsh Pride of lions that have featured...

    : White-eye
    White-eye
    White-eye can refer to:*White-eye , a large family of birds.*White-eye , a species of fish.*White-eye mutation, a mutation in Drosophila melanogaster linked to the X chromosome, found by reciprocal cross breeding experiments in 1906.*A lioness member of the Marsh Pride of lions that have featured...

    s
  • Timaliidae: babbler
    Babbler
    Babbler may refer to:* Old World babbler, a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds* Australo-Papuan babbler, passerine birds endemic to Australia-New Guinea* The Babbler, the journal of BirdLife International in Indochina...

    s
  • Muscicapidae: Old World flycatcher
    Flycatcher
    There are various families of bird termed flycatchers:* The Old World flycatchers, Muscicapidae* The Tyrant-flycatchers, Tyrannidae* The Monarch flycatchers, Dicruridae* The Silky-flycatchers, PtilogonatidaeFlycatcher mayalso refer to:...

    s and chat
    Chat
    -Conversation :* Casual conversation* Online chat in an internet chat room or instant messaging system* Synchronous conferencing is the formal term for online chat technology* Bluechat with bluetooth devices* SMS chat with mobil-Geography:...

    s
  • Turdidae: thrush
    Thrush
    -Birds:* Thrush , any of the many birds in the Turdidae family* Antthrush, any of a group of birds within the Formicariidae family* Dohrn's Thrush-babbler , a species of bird in the Timalidae family...

    es and allies
  • Sturnidae: starling
    Starling
    Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The name "Sturnidae" comes from the Latin word for Starling, sturnus. Starlings occur naturally in the Old World, from Europe, Asia and Africa, to northern Australia and the islands of the tropical Pacific...

    s

See also

  • bird song
    Bird song
    Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology, bird 'songs' are often distinguished from shorter sounds, which may be termed 'calls'....

  • bird vocalization
  • list of birds
  • Silence of the Songbirds
    Silence of the Songbirds
    Silence of the Songbirds is a book by bird lover and scientist Bridget Stutchbury about the rapid decline and loss of many species of songbirds. Some major threats covered include pesticides, sun-grown coffee, city lights, cowbirds, and global warming...

     (book)
  • song system
    Song system
    A song system, also known as a song control system , is a series of discrete brain nuclei involved in the production and learning of song in songbirds...


External links