57-564: See text Corvoidea is a superfamily of birds in the order of Passeriformes . Corvoidea contains the following families: Rhipiduridae Dicruridae Monarchidae Ifritidae Paradisaeidae Corcoracidae Melampittidae Corvidae [REDACTED] Platylophidae Laniidae [REDACTED] Rhipiduridae Dicruridae Monarchidae Ifritidae Paradisaeidae Struthideidae (= Corcoracidae ) Corvidae [REDACTED] Platylophidae Laniidae [REDACTED] This Corvoidea -related article
114-511: 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). In Europe, perching birds are not too uncommon in the fossil record from the Oligocene onward, belonging to several lineages: That suboscines expanded much beyond their region of origin
171-470: 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 the Southern Hemisphere in the late Paleocene or early Eocene , around 50 million years ago. The initial diversification of passerines coincides with the separation of
228-483: A distinct super-family Certhioidea . This list is in taxonomic order, placing related families next to one another. The families listed are those recognised by the International Ornithologists' Union (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
285-469: A dozen and other species around five or six. The family Viduidae do not build their own nests, instead, they lay eggs in other birds' nests. The Passeriformes contain several groups of brood parasites such as the viduas , cuckoo-finches , and the cowbirds . 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
342-437: A function in deterring predators and conspecific rivals. In David Attenborough 's Life of Birds (ep. 6), the superb lyrebird is described as able to imitate twenty bird species' calls, and a male is shown mimicking a car alarm, chainsaw, and various camera shutters. However, two of the three lyrebirds featured were captive birds. One of the three was observed imitating a laughing kookaburra with such close similarity that
399-502: A lyrebird's mimetic song is an honest signal that can be used by females in mate selection . Historically, there has been far more research on the mimetic abilities of male lyrebirds. This is primarily due to the assumption that the evolution of song in passerines resulted primarily from the selection on males in attracting mates or deterring rivals. However, a study found that females also produced mimetic vocalisations while foraging and during nest defence, suggesting that mimicry has
456-476: A male and female pair of superb lyrebirds has the tail feathers of the male incorrectly displayed, with the lyrates in the centre of the plume surrounded by the filamentaries. This happened when a superb lyrebird specimen was prepared for display at the British Museum by a taxidermist who had never seen a live lyrebird, and Gould later painted his artwork from this incorrect presentation. A specimen of
513-654: A more diverse repertoire of mimetic songs when compared to subadult birds. Subadult lyrebirds produce recognisable imitations, which fall short of adult versions in terms of frequency range, consistency and acoustic purity, for example in imitations of the complex whipbird call. Like many passerine species, there are significant differences in lyrebird song in different populations over its geographic range. These include differences in repertoire and vocalisation characteristics, and may be due to differences in local bird species assemblages, which provide different options for model selection. It could also be due to differences in
570-553: A nearby kookaburra began responding to the lyrebird and calling back. A recording of a superb lyrebird mimicking sounds of an electronic shooting game, workmen, and chainsaws was added to the National Film and Sound Archive 's Sounds of Australia registry in 2013. The vocalizations of some superb lyrebirds in the New England area of New South Wales are said to possess a flute -like timbre. The foraging behaviour of
627-611: A soft clicking sound. Throughout, he faces the female and often will walk backwards. A study has found evidence that the lyrebirds' 'dance choreography' is highly coordinated to different types of song repertoire. Coordination of movement with acoustic signals is a trait previously thought to be unique to humans, and indicates high cognitive ability. Females are the sole providers of parental care . They build large domed nests out of sticks on raised earth platforms. Nests are most likely to be located in wetter areas with deep leaf litter and high understory vegetation complexity, reflecting
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#1732765372974684-607: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Passeriformes and see text A passerine ( / ˈ p æ s ə r aɪ n / ) is any bird of the order Passeriformes ( / ˈ p æ s ə r ɪ f ɔːr m iː z / ; from Latin passer 'sparrow' and formis '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds , passerines generally have an anisodactyl 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
741-412: Is an Australian passerine songbird , one of two species from the family Menuridae , with the other being the much rarer Albert's lyrebird . It is one of the world's largest songbirds , and is renowned for its elaborate tail and courtship displays, and its excellent mimicry. The species is endemic to Australia and is found in forest in the southeast of the country. According to David Attenborough ,
798-482: 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 and Meliphagoidea , as well as minor lineages, and the superfamilies Sylvioidea , Muscicapoidea , and Passeroidea but this arrangement has been found to be oversimplified. Since
855-906: Is more scant before the Pleistocene, from which several still-existing families are documented. Apart from the indeterminable MACN -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 . "Palaeostruthus" eurius (Pliocene of Florida) probably belongs to an extant family, most likely passeroidean . Acanthisitti – New Zealand wrens (1 family containing 7 species, only 2 extant) Tyranni – suboscines (16 families containing 1,356 species) Passeri – oscines (125 families containing 5,158 species) The Passeriformes
912-537: Is proven by several fossils from Germany such as a presumed broadbill ( Eurylaimidae ) humerus fragment from the Early Miocene (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
969-413: Is renowned for its elaborate vocal mimicry , with an estimated 70-80% of the male's vocalisations consisting of imitations of other species, mostly other birds but occasionally marsupials. Females also sing, regularly producing both lyrebird-specific song and vocal mimicry. Both sexes can intersperse vocal mimicry with lyrebird-specific vocalisations including songs and alarm calls . The mimicry of
1026-442: Is the long-tailed widowbird . The chicks of passerines are altricial : 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 and nightjars , where camouflage is necessary, and in some parasitic cuckoos , which match
1083-459: Is the short-tailed pygmy tyrant , at 6.5 cm (2.6 in) and 4.2 g (0.15 oz). The foot of a passerine has three toes directed forward and one toe directed backward, called anisodactyl arrangement. The hind toe ( hallux ) is long and 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 ,
1140-545: Is the largest order of birds and among the most diverse clades of terrestrial vertebrates , representing 60% of birds. Passerines are divided into three suborders : Acanthisitti (New Zealand wrens), Tyranni (composed mostly of South American suboscines), and Passeri (oscines or songbirds). Passerines originated in the Southern Hemisphere around 60 million years ago. Most passerines are insectivorous or omnivorous , and eat both insects and fruit or seeds. The terms "passerine" and "Passeriformes" are derived from
1197-657: The Corvida and numerous minor lineages make up songbird diversity today. Extensive biogeographical mixing happens, with northern forms returning to the south, southern forms moving north, and so on. Perching bird osteology , especially of the limb bones, is rather diagnostic. However, the early fossil record is poor because passerines are relatively small, and their delicate bones do not preserve well. Queensland Museum specimens F20688 ( carpometacarpus ) and F24685 ( tibiotarsus ) from Murgon, Queensland , are fossil bone fragments initially assigned to Passeriformes . However,
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#17327653729741254-636: The Old World warblers and Old World babblers have turned out to be paraphyletic and are being rearranged. Several taxa turned out to represent highly distinct lineages, so new families had to be established, some of theirs – like the stitchbird of New Zealand and the Eurasian bearded reedling – monotypic with only one living species. In the Passeri alone, a number of minor lineages will eventually be recognized as distinct superfamilies. For example,
1311-631: The crows , 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 , at least in modern times; they were long placed in Passeri. 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 , each exceeding 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) and 70 cm (28 in). The superb lyrebird and some birds-of-paradise , due to very long tails or tail coverts, are longer overall. The smallest passerine
1368-445: 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 theirs have been found among comprehensive studies of the living Passeri, though they might be fairly close to some little-studied tropical Asian groups. Nuthatches , wrens , and their closest relatives are currently grouped in
1425-590: The red fox , which is often associated with urban areas. An instantly recognisable bird, the superb lyrebird has been featured as an emblem many times. Notable examples of this include a male superb lyrebird being featured on the reverse side of the Australian 10-cent coin , and as the emblem of the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service . The Victorian county of Buln Buln is named for its Woiwurrung name. John Gould's historic painting of
1482-507: The scientific name of the house sparrow , Passer domesticus , and ultimately from the Latin term passer , which refers to sparrows and similar small birds. The order is divided into three suborders, Tyranni (suboscines), Passeri (oscines or songbirds), and the basal Acanthisitti . Oscines have the best control of their syrinx muscles among birds, producing a wide range of songs and other vocalizations, though some of them, such as
1539-402: 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 treecreepers and woodcreeper 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
1596-409: The acoustic environment mediated by vegetation structure , with lyrebirds more likely to mimic fragments of bird songs that are most acoustically prominent. The mimicry of male superb lyrebirds is a well-known example of a sexually selected trait . Females prefer males that produce more accurate mimicry and that have a greater diversity of mimetic songs in their repertoire. Although to the human ear
1653-699: The amount of fuel available for forest fires , which in turn reduces the extent and intensity of wildfires. Superb lyrebirds are vulnerable to native predatory birds such as the collared sparrowhawk , gray goshawk , and currawongs . Nests are particularly vulnerable to predation , but adults are also vulnerable due to their loud calls. It has been observed that males suffer higher degrees of mortality, suggesting that their courtship displays render them highly vulnerable. Methods utilised by superb lyrebirds to reduce predation risk include selection of protected areas for nest sites, mimicking calls of other predatory birds, and adopting solitary and timid behaviours. As
1710-601: The basis of morphological similarities that, it is now believed, are the result of convergent evolution , 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 and improved paleobiogeographical data gradually are revealing
1767-512: The corvoidean and basal songbirds. The modern diversity of Passerida genera is known mostly from the Late Miocene onward and into the Pliocene (about 10–2 mya). Pleistocene and early Holocene lagerstätten (<1.8 mya) yield numerous extant species, and many yield almost nothing but extant species or their chronospecies and paleosubspecies. In the Americas , the fossil record
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1824-408: The differences between songs are indistinguishable, there are differences in the mimetic song quality between individual lyrebirds due to signal degradation, reverberation and attenuation , as well as the frequency and volume attained. There is evidence that there are costs associated with the development of mimetic song, and while these costs are currently unknown, they indicate that that quality of
1881-404: 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. Infraorder Eurylaimides : Old World suboscines Infraorder Tyrannides : New World suboscines Parvorder Furnariida Parvorder Tyrannida Relationships between living Passeriformes families based on
1938-424: The famous Riversleigh site. The superb lyrebird is found in the forests of southeastern Australia, ranging from southern Victoria to southeastern Queensland . The bird was introduced to southern Tasmania in 1934–54, amid ill-founded fears the species was becoming threatened with extinction in its mainland populations. The Tasmania population is thriving and even growing. Across the rest of its large range,
1995-508: The lyrebird is common, and is evaluated as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . This range of the superb lyrebird includes a variety of biomes , including subtropical and temperate rainforest , and wet and dry sclerophyll forest . The preferred habitat of the bird is in wet forest and rainforest, where there is an open ground layer of moist leaf litter shaded by vegetation. In favourable seasons,
2052-406: The lyrebird range is often extended into drier areas further from water sources. The superb lyrebird is a large, pheasant -sized terrestrial passerine , ranging in length from 860 mm (34 in) for the female to 1 m (39 in) for the male. Females weigh around 0.9 kg (2.0 lb), and males weigh around 1.1 kg (2.4 lb). The plumage colour is mainly dark brown on
2109-457: The male will construct several circular mounds of bare dirt on the forest floor, for the purpose of conducting courtship displays. These mounds are defended vigorously from other males. There is strong sexual selection in lyrebirds, with females visiting the territories of several different males and choosing the most desirable males with which to copulate. When a male encounters a female lyrebird, he performs an elaborate courtship display on
2166-669: The material is too fragmentary and their affinities have been questioned. Several more recent fossils from the Oligocene of Europe, such as Wieslochia , Jamna , Resoviaornis , and Crosnoornis , are more complete and definitely represent early passeriforms, and have been found to belong to a variety of modern and extinct lineages. From the Bathans Formation at the Manuherikia River in Otago , New Zealand, MNZ S42815 (a distal right tarsometatarsus of
2223-508: The mature bird through a series of annual moults , with feathers undergoing change in structure and patterning. The male superb lyrebird reaches maturity in 7–9 years, and the female in 6–7 years. Superb lyrebirds are ground-dwelling birds that typically live solitary lives. Adults usually live singly in territories , but young birds without territories may associate in small groups which can be single or mixed-sex. Lyrebirds are not strong fliers and are not highly mobile, often remaining within
2280-536: The mid-2000s, studies have investigated the phylogeny of the Passeriformes and found that many families from Australasia 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
2337-698: The model species themselves. This is reflected in the vocalisations of lyrebirds in the Sherbrooke Forest in Victoria , which were observed to frequently mimic the song of pilotbirds , a species that had not been recorded in the area for over 10 years. During the winter when the nestlings hatch, adults more frequently mimic model species that are less active during this time, again suggesting that mimetic items are initially learnt from other lyrebirds. The quality of mimetic song increases with age, with adult superb lyrebirds having both greater accuracy and
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2394-431: The name given by early Dutch explorers to Western Australia. The classification of lyrebirds was the subject of much debate after the first specimens reached European scientists after 1798. Lyrebirds are ancient Australian animals. The Australian Museum contains fossils of lyrebirds dating back to about 15 million years ago. The prehistoric Menura tyawanoides has been described from early Miocene fossils found at
2451-456: The nearest mound. This display incorporates both song and dance elements. The male fans out his tail horizontally to cover his entire body and head. The tail feathers are vibrated, and the lyrebird beats his wings against his body and struts around the mound. He also sings loudly, incorporating his own vocalisations with mimicry of other bird calls . After mating, the male performs an ornate postcopulatory display shaking his tail while producing
2508-518: The passerine host's egg. The vinous-throated parrotbill 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
2565-935: 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. Acanthisittidae (New Zealand wrens) Eurylaimidae (eurylaimid broadbills) Philepittidae (asites) Calyptomenidae (African and green broadbills) Pittidae (pittas) Sapayoidae (sapayoa) Melanopareiidae (crescent chests) Conopophagidae (gnateaters) Thamnophilidae (antbirds) Grallariidae (antpittas) Rhinocryptidae (tapaculos) Formicariidae (antthrushes) Scleruridae (leaftossers) Dendrocolaptidae (woodcreepers) Furnariidae (ovenbirds) Pipridae (manakins) Cotingidae (cotingas) Tityridae (tityras, becards) Superb lyrebird The superb lyrebird ( Menura novaehollandiae )
2622-426: The requirements of food availability and protection from predators. The female breeds once per year in winter, usually laying a single egg . Eggs are laid in a deep bed of lyrebird feathers within the nest, and are then incubated by the female for up to 7 weeks. Post-fledging parental care lasts several months, with the female exerting significant energy in feeding and brooding the nestling. The superb lyrebird
2679-446: The same area for their entire lifespans. Superb lyrebird territories are generally small, and there are known behavioural differences between different populations. The diet of the superb lyrebird consists primarily of invertebrates such as earthworms and insects found on the forest floor. There is also evidence that the birds are mycophagists , meaning that they eat fungi . Superb lyrebirds forage by scratching vigorously in
2736-509: 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 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
2793-497: The shape of a lyre , they have brown and buff coloured patterning. Lyrates of superb lyrebirds are larger than of Albert lyrebirds. Between the lyrates are twelve filamentaries, feathers of flexible silvery barbs. In the centre of the tail are two silvery median feathers. The tail of the female is less ornate, with shorter lyrates and plain, broad feathers in place of the filamentaries. In both sexes, juveniles have no ornamental tail feathers. The tail plumage develops into that of
2850-886: The southern continents in the early Eocene . The New Zealand wrens are the first to become isolated in Zealandia , and the second split involved the origin of the Tyranni in South America and the Passeri in the Australian continent . The Passeri experienced a great radiation of forms in Australia. A major branch of the Passeri, the parvorder Passerida , dispersed into Eurasia and Africa about 40 million years ago, where they experienced further radiation of new lineages. This eventually led to three major Passerida lineages comprising about 4,000 species, which in addition to
2907-502: The superb lyrebird displays one of the most sophisticated voice skills within the animal kingdom—"the most elaborate, the most complex, and the most beautiful". Based on specimens sent from New South Wales to England, Major-General Thomas Davies illustrated and described this species as the "superb lyrebird", which he called Menura superba , in a presentation to the Linnean Society of London on 4 November 1800, but his work
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#17327653729742964-433: The superb lyrebird has a major effect on the structure of the forest floor . A lyrebird can move and bury up to 200 tonnes per hectare of leaf litter and soil every year, disturbing the soil to a greater extent than virtually any other animal. This soil disturbance hastens the decomposition of the leaf litter, and increases the rate of nutrient cycling in the ecosystem. The lyrebirds' clearing of bare patches also reduces
3021-469: The superb lyrebird is a poor flyer, when alarmed it will tend to run away, sometimes incorporating short gliding flights to lower perches or downhill. Human factors also pose threats to superb lyrebirds. Because they are ground-dwelling, superb lyrebirds are particularly threatened by vehicle collisions. The presence of roads and infrastructure also pose edge effects , for example disturbance from domestic animals and predation by introduced species such as
3078-402: The superb lyrebird is highly accurate, with even the model species at times unable to distinguish between model song and mimicked song. For example, one study found that shrike-thrushes did not respond any differently to hearing their own songs than to hearing imitations by lyrebirds. Generally, juveniles initially learn mimetic items through transmission by older lyrebirds, rather than from
3135-599: The upper body, with greyish-brown underparts and red-tinged flight feathers , its feathers are brighter tail than that of Albert's lyrebirds. The wings are short and round, and are only capable of weak flight, being mainly used for balance or for gliding from trees to the ground. The legs are powerful, capable of running quickly, and the feet are strong enough to move branches up to 10 cm in diameter. Adult males have tails up to 70 cm (28 in) long, consisting of sixteen feathers . There are outer two feathers broad and S-shaped named "lyrates" for their resemblance to
3192-471: The upper soil layers, disturbing the topsoil and leaf litter . The birds are most likely to forage in damp rainforest vegetation relative to drier areas, and in areas where the bottom vegetation strata is open and low in complexity, allowing good access to food sources in the leaf litter. Superb lyrebirds exhibit polygyny , with a single male mating with several females. A male's territory can overlap with up to six female territories. Within his territory,
3249-680: Was not published until 1802; in the intervening time period, however, the species was described and named Menura novaehollandiae by John Latham in 1801, and this is the accepted name by virtue of nomenclatural priority . Latham described the inner webs of the bird's outer tail-feathers as having numerous transparent lunules, its generic name Menura comes from this description from the Ancient Greek words μήνη mēnē "moon" and ουρά ourá "tail". Its specific epithet derives from Modern Latin Nova Hollandia "New Holland ",
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