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Stenostiridae
 
 
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Stenostiridae is a family of small passerine
Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
 bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s proposed as a result of recent discoveries in molecular systematics (Beresford et al. 2005). They are commonly referred to as stenostirid warblers.

This new 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 in the conventional sense of "an a...
 is named after the Fairy Warbler
Fairy Warbler

The Fairy Warbler or Fairy Flycatcher, Stenostira scita, is a small passerine bird. Formerly placed in the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae, it is now separated with some other "odd flycatchers" as the new family Stenostiridae ....
, a distinct species placed formerly in the Old World flycatcher
Old World flycatcher

The Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae is a large family of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World. These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing....
s. This is united with the "sylvioid flycatchers": the genus Elminia (formerly placed in the Monarchinae
Monarchinae

The monarch flycatchers, Monarchidae, are a family of passerine birds. Well-known forms included here are boatbills, monarch flycatchers, shrikebills, paradise-flycatchers, and the magpie-larks....
) and the closely allied former Old World flycatcher genus Culicicapa.






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Stenostiridae is a family of small passerine
Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
 bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s proposed as a result of recent discoveries in molecular systematics (Beresford et al. 2005). They are commonly referred to as stenostirid warblers.

This new 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 in the conventional sense of "an a...
 is named after the Fairy Warbler
Fairy Warbler

The Fairy Warbler or Fairy Flycatcher, Stenostira scita, is a small passerine bird. Formerly placed in the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae, it is now separated with some other "odd flycatchers" as the new family Stenostiridae ....
, a distinct species placed formerly in the Old World flycatcher
Old World flycatcher

The Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae is a large family of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World. These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing....
s. This is united with the "sylvioid flycatchers": the genus Elminia (formerly placed in the Monarchinae
Monarchinae

The monarch flycatchers, Monarchidae, are a family of passerine birds. Well-known forms included here are boatbills, monarch flycatchers, shrikebills, paradise-flycatchers, and the magpie-larks....
) and the closely allied former Old World flycatcher genus Culicicapa. (Beresford et al. 2005, Fuchs et al. 2006)

Its genera
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 and species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 are:

  • Genus Stenostira – Fairy "Warbler" or Fairy "Flycatcher"


  • Genus Elminia
    Elminia

    Elminia is a genus of bird in the flycatcher family Stenostiridae. The genus is endemic to Africa.It contains the following species:* White-tailed Blue-flycatcher ...
     – includes Trochocercus
    • African Blue Flycatcher, Elminia longicauda
    • White-tailed Blue Flycatcher, Elminia albicauda
    • Dusky Crested-flycatcher
      Dusky Crested-flycatcher

      The Dusky Crested-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Stenostiridae family.It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda....
      , Elminia nigromitrata
    • White-bellied Crested-flycatcher
      White-bellied Crested-flycatcher

      The White-bellied Crested-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Stenostiridae family.It is found in Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda....
      , Elminia albiventris
    • White-tailed Crested-flycatcher
      White-tailed Crested-flycatcher

      The White-tailed Crested-flycatcher is a species of bird in the flycatcher family Stenostiridae. It has a discontinuous distribution in eastern Africa....
      , Elminia albonotata


  • Genus Culicicapa
    • Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, Culicicapa ceylonensis
    • Citrine Canary-flycatcher
      Citrine Canary-flycatcher

      The Citrine Canary-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Stenostiridae family.It is found in Indonesia and the Philippines.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes....
      , Culicicapa helianthea


Other African or Asian species might conceivably fall into this novel 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 in the conventional sense of "an a...
. The tit-flycatchers (Myioparus
Myioparus

Myioparus is a genus of bird in the Muscicapidae family.It contains the following species:* Grey-throated Tit-flycatcher * Grey Tit-flycatcher ...
) are apparently true flycatchers morphologically
Morphology (biology)

The term morphology in biology refers to form, structure and configuration of an organism. This includes aspects of the outward appearance as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs....
 somewhat convergent
Convergent evolution

Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action....
 to Stenostira (Jønsson & Fjeldså 2006). The Stenostiridae as a whole are related to penduline tits, titmice and chickadees. All these appear to be closer to the Sylvioidea than to other Passerida
Passerida

Passerida is under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two "parvorders" contained within the suborder Passeri . While more recent research suggests that its sister parvorder, Corvida, is not a monophyletic grouping, the existence of Passerida as a distinct clade is well accepted....
, but this is not robustly supported by the available data and they might constitute a distinct, more basal
Basal (phylogenetics)

In phylogenetics, a basal clade is the earliest clade to branch in a larger clade; it appears at the base of a cladogram.A basal group form an outgroup to the rest of the clade, such as in the following example:...
 superfamily.(Alström et al. 2006, Beresford et al. 2005, Barker et al. 2004)