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44-489: Swynnerton's robin ( Swynnertonia swynnertoni ) is a species of passerine bird belonging to the family Muscicapidae . It is monotypic within the genus Swynnertonia . The common and Latin names commemorate the entomologist Charles Swynnerton . Swynnerton's robin was first formally described as Erythracus swynnertoni in 1906 by the English geologist and ornithologist George Ernest Shelley . The type specimen

88-511: 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

132-470: 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

176-804: A declining population. Threats identified include forest clearance and disturbance and non-native invasive species , especially the ginger Hedychium . The International Union for Nature Conservation have therefore classified it as Vulnerable . Passerine bird 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

220-483: 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

264-469: 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

308-400: A hollow in a stump, on the forked stem of shrubs or on platforms of intertwined liana stems. The clutch consists of 2 or 3 eggs which are only incubated by the females, incubation lasting around two weeks. After hatching the female broods the chicks for between 7 and 9 days, with the male providing them all with food feeding the female first then the young. From about two week the females joins

352-489: A subspecific epithet which honours Dr W. A. Rodgers who drew Jensen and Stuart's attention to the biological importance of the type locality of this form, the Mwanihana Forest. Swynnerton's robin is superficially similar to the larger White-starred robin , but has a white crescent on the upper breast, which is bordered below with a black line, and its grey tail lacks yellow windows. Its sexually dimorphic plumage

396-460: Is classified within the subfamily Erithacinae of the large passerine family Muscicapidae, the chats and Old World flycatchers. However, it has been argued that the name of this clade should be Cossyphinae, as this was proposed by Vigors in 1825 and so predates Gray 's 1846 Erithacinae. Swynnerton's robin has two paraptric subspecies: A third subspecies S. s. umbriata was described from Mount Gorongosa in 1974 by Phillip Clancey but this

440-482: 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

484-906: 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

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528-460: Is now regarded as a synonym of the nominate subspecies. Swynnerton's robin honours the British entomologist Charles Swynnerton in its common name, genus name and specific name . Swynnerton discovered the bird before Shelley formally described it. Roberts used the name Melsetter robin for this species, Melsetter being the colonial era name for Chimanimani . The subspecies S. s. rodgersi has

572-537: 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

616-442: 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

660-459: 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 ,

704-545: 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

748-453: Is unusual among African robins. The female has duller plumage and an olive wash over the crown and face. Juveniles are spotted buffy yellow on the head and upper parts, while the chest crescent is pale greyish brown. This species has a length of 13 to 14 cm (5.1 to 5.5 in). Swinnerton's robin has a song which has been described as a 3 note whistle, rebdered as "zit zitt slurr" or "tsee-tuu-tuu". The third note may be lower in pitch than

792-536: The Bvumba Mountains a 2007 study found Swynnerton's robins between 1,200 and 1,850 m (3,940 and 6,070 ft). It has a strong association with Dracaena fragrans in the Chirinda Forest. Swynnerton's robin is largely insectivorous and has been recorded feeding on beetles, wasps, bees, ants, flies, crickets, grasshoppers, spiders and millipedes. It has also been known to eat fruit and even

836-657: 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,

880-612: The International Union for Conservation of Nature , on e on Mount Gorongosa and the other on Mount Mabu in the north of the country, this population was discovered in 2008. In Zimbabwe this species is known to occur at the Chirinda Forest Botanical Reserve and a few small forested areas along the border with Mozambique. This species is almost confined to montane forest between 850 and 1,850 m (2,790 and 6,070 ft) in altitude, except

924-636: 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,

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968-631: 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

1012-499: The dwarf squeaker ( Arthroleptis xenodactyloides ), a small frog. Eggs are laid between October and January, peak egg laying occurring in November and December. The nest is an open cup made of dead leaves, other plant material and mosses, the birds line it with dark fibres that they find at the bases of Cyathea tree ferns. The nest is frequently located at the base of the leaves of Dracaena fragrans trees but may also be placed on

1056-445: 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

1100-507: 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

1144-402: 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

1188-883: The Bvumba, perhaps the most notable of which are the leopard and the samango monkey, the latter's range being very limited. Savannah woodland adjoining the Mozambique side of the range is home to several rare reptiles including Marshall's leaf chameleon and Arnold's skink . Chinhamapere Hill, on the Mozambique side of the mountains, has been a culturally important site since the Iron Age. There are well-preserved hunter-gatherer rock art paintings (comprising several human figures, some holding bows and arrows and others in trance) thought to be of around 8,000 years in age, as well as contemporary ritual sites, used for rainmaking, divining and healing. There are at least 86 Stone Age sites in

1232-644: The Zimbabwean side, the Mountains are accessible by a tarred road from Mutare . The Mozambican side of the mountains can be reached from a road to the Vumba Water Bottling Plant, which leaves the main EN6 highway just west of Manica . The climb to the prominence, Castle Beacon, is up a large granite dome . The lower slopes form a mist belt with sub-montane vegetation. Proteas are found on

1276-601: 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

1320-512: 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

1364-641: The deeper ravines. The higher levels of the mountains are sparsely vegetated with shrubs such as proteas , aloes and Strelitzia . In the centre of the mountains lies the Bunga Forest Botanical Reserve and neighbouring Bvumba Botanical Garden. The latter is landscaped around a number of small streams and includes an important cycad collection, with 59 of the 189 known species, including Encephalartos manikensis , E. ferox , E. lehmannii , E. pterogonus , E. cycadifolius and E. eugene-maraisii . Although small in area,

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1408-404: 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

1452-699: The higher levels. Vumba Mountain, on the Mozambique side, is a steep hike to a summit with a good view of Manica and environs. The Bvumba Mountains are composed mainly of granite which forms the eastern margin of the Zimbabwe Craton . The Vumba granite has been dated at over 2,600 Ma. The granites are intruded in places by Umkondo dolerite sills which are dated to about 1,110 Ma. The mountains are dominated by savannah woodland, including Brachystegia / miombo . There are also extensive sub-montane grasslands, local mist-belts with mosses and epiphytic and lithophytic ferns and sub-montane evergreen forest in

1496-454: The male in foraging and the chicks fledge at 14 days old, Other than when the adults are attending fledgelings this species is typically found in pairs. During the dry season they will follow columns of Dorylus driver ants, catching insects disturned by the ants.< Swynnerton's robin has a restricted distribution, within which the extent and quality of its habitat are declining, leading to an increasingly fragmented distribution and probably

1540-669: 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

1584-536: 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

1628-693: The mountains are a botanical paradise and home to some of the rarest butterflies in the region. The Bvumba mountains offer exciting and varied birding opportunities. The area is probably best known as one of the main breeding areas of Swynnerton's robin which lives and breeds in small patches of forest, some on private land, others within the Bunga forest . Livingstone's turacos are present in large numbers. Their territorial calls are typically heard long before they are seen, yet their brilliant crimson wing feathers are striking from afar as they glide from one patch of canopy to another. A smaller number of mammals inhabit

1672-518: 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

1716-888: 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) Bvumba Mountains On

1760-561: The preceding 2. The alarm call is a quiet chattering "trrrrrt". Swynnerton's robin is a localised distribution in eastern and southern Africa. In Tanzania there are two populations, one in the Udzungwa Mountains and another, smaller population, in the East Usambara Mountains . The Tanzanian populations are the subspecies S. s. rodgersi . There are two populations in Mozambique, named as S. s, umbratica by

1804-509: 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

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1848-944: 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

1892-477: The subpopulation found in the East Usambaras where it likely is found only in lowland evergreen forest at altitudes of 130 to 550 m (430 to 1,800 ft). On Mountt Mabu it has a lower limit of around 1,340 m (4,400 ft) up to the upper limits of the main forest. This species prefers dense undergrowth where there is a high density of saplings, or rank vegetation in the vicinity of streams. In

1936-744: Was collected in June 1905 in the Chirinda Forest in eastern Rhodesia , modern Zimbabwe. It was thought to be closely related to the white-starred robin ( Pognocichla stellata ) so was placed by some authorities in the same genus, Pognocichla . However, in 1922 Austin Roberts proposed that this taxon was distinctive enough from both the European robin ( Erithacus rubecula ) and the white-starred robin that it should beclassified within its own monospecific genus , Swynnertonia . The genus Swynnertonia

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