Bird families and their orders
Recently there have been large changes to the order in which birds are listed to better reflect their evolutionary history based on new evidence from DNA studies.
This article provides an overview of the changes or you can read the detailed recommendations of the British Ornithologists' Union Taxonomic Committee outlining the evidence for the Passerine families.
For some insight into the wider changes in bird taxonomy, you may find the John Boyd's Taxonomy in Flux website useful and for detailed taxonomic information John Penhallurick's World Bird Info site.
For those who wish to read the primary research papers, see the paper by Hackett and others in Science for a study of all the world's birds and that by Thomas in Proceedings B for common British birds.
There is also some disgreement between authorities over the total number of species, and their placement into different Families and Orders (and the order in which they evolved and so are presented in a list).
For example:
| Morony et al. (1975) | 8,982 | species in | 158 | Families | |
| Monroe & Sibley (1993) | 9,702 | 145 | |||
| Clements (2000) | 9,716 | 204 | |||
| Dickinson (2003) | 9,721 | 195 | |||
| Perrins (2003) | 9,845 | 172 |
The following table gives the number of species occurring in each order (or family within the large Passeriformes order) and the number recorded in Britain.
For those families that have representatives in Britain (either regularly or as wanderers) click on the link to see more details. Note for non-passerine orders that only families that have occurred in Britain are listed.
This list reflects the 'official' British list as determined by the British Ornithologists' Union, which has adopted some, but not all of the changes that have been proposed by recent studies, to see the families listed in a more traditional order, click here.
Order |
Families |
Species |
in Britain |
|
| Superorder Palaeognathae | ||||
| Struthioniformes | 1 | 1 | 0 | Ostrich |
| Rheiformes | 1 | 2 | 0 | Rheas |
| Apterygiformes | 1 | 3 | 0 | Kiwis |
| Casuariiformes | 2 | 4 | 0 | Emu and Cassowaries |
| Tinamiformes | 1 | 46 | 0 | Tinamous |
| Superorder Neognathae | ||||
| Galloanserae | ||||
| Anseriformes | 2 | 165 | 58 | Waterfowl |
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| Galliformes | 6 | 285 | 10 | Gamebirds |
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| Neoaves | ||||
| Sphenisciformes | 1 | 17 | 0 | Penguins |
| Gaviiformes | 1 | 5 | 5 | Divers |
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| Procellariformes | 4 | 125 | 18 | Albatrosses and Petrels |
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| Pelecaniformes | 6 | 65 | 7 | Pelicans and relatives |
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| Ciconiiformes | 6 | 117 | 18 | Herons, Storks and relatives |
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| Podicipediformes | 1 | 22 | 6 | Grebes |
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| Accipitriformes | 5 | 300 | 27 | Vultures, Hawks and Falcons |
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| Gruiformes | 11 | 203 | 16 | Cranes, Rails and relatives |
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| Charadriiformes | 18 | 342 | 135 | Shorebirds |
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| Pteroclidiformes | 1 | 16 | 1 | Sandgrouse |
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| Columbiformes | 1 | 309 | 7 | Pigeons and Doves |
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| Psittaciformes | 1 | 356 | 1 | Parrots |
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| Cuculiformes | 3 | 164 | 4 | Cuckoos and relatives |
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| Strigiformes | 2 | 205 | 9 | Owls |
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| Caprimulgiformes | 5 | 118 | 4 | Nightjars and relatives |
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| Apodiformes | 3 | 424 | 7 | Swifts and Hummingbirds |
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| Trogoniformes | 1 | 37 | 0 | Trogons |
| Coliiformes | 1 | 6 | 0 | Mousebirds |
| Coraciiformes | 9 | 206 | 6 | Kingfishers and relatives |
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| Piciformes | 6 | 403 | 5 | Woodpeckers, Toucans and relatives |
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| Passeriformes | 82 | 5,899 | 247 | Perching Birds (see below) |
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2 | 0 | New Zealand Wrens | |
| Suborder Tyranni (Sub-Oscines) | ||||
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4 | 0 | Asities | |
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15 | 8 | Broadbills | |
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32 | 0 | Pittas | |
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50 | 0 | Manakins | |
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94 | 0 | Cotingas | |
| 436 | 1 | Tyrant Flycatchers | ||
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8 | 0 | Gnateaters | |
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204 | 0 | Antbirds | |
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55 | 0 | Tapaculos | |
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62 | 0 | Ground Antbirds | |
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217 | 0 | Ovenbirds | |
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52 | 0 | Woodcreepers | |
| Suborder Passeri (Oscines) | ||||
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2 | 0 | Lyrebirds | |
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2 | 0 | Australian Scrub-birds | |
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7 | 0 | Australasian Treecreepers | |
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20 | 0 | Bowerbirds | |
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27 | 0 | Fairy-wrens | |
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182 | 0 | Honeyeaters and Australian Chats | |
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16 | 0 | Log-runners | |
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5 | 0 | Australasian Babblers | |
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67 | 0 | Australian Warblers | |
| Corvida | ||||
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85 | 0 | Cuckoo-shrikes | |
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62 | 0 | Whistlers | |
| 52 | 3 | Vireos | ||
| 28 | 1 | Old World Orioles | ||
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11 | 0 | Wood Swallows | |
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14 | 0 | Australian Butcher-birds | |
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4 | 0 | Ioras | |
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8 | 0 | Helmet-Shrikes | |
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41 | 0 | Vanga Shrikes | |
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46 | 0 | Bush-shrikes | |
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24 | 0 | Drongos | |
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42 | 0 | Fantail Flycatchers | |
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2 | 0 | Australian Mud-nesters | |
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2 | 0 | Magpie-larks | |
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42 | 0 | Birds of Paradise | |
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98 | 0 | Monarch Flycatchers | |
| 30 | 9 | Shrikes | ||
| 118 | 9 | Crows | ||
| Passerida | ||||
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3 | 0 | New Zealand Wattlebirds | |
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44 | 0 | Australasian Robins | |
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4 | 0 | Rockfowl | |
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6 | 2 | Kinglets | |
| 13 | 1 | Penduline Tits | ||
| 53 | 6 | Tits and Chickadees | ||
| 80 | 10 | Larks | ||
| 89 | 8 | Swallows and Martins | ||
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140 | 0 | Bulbuls | |
| 140 | 1 | Bush Warblers | ||
| 7 | 1 | Long-tailed Tits | ||
| 389 | 51 | Old World Warblers | ||
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88 | 0 | White-eyes | |
| 285 | 1 | Babblers and Laughing-thrushes | ||
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1 | 0 | Palmchat | |
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1 | 0 | Grey Hypocolius | |
| 7 | 2 | Waxwings | ||
| 25 | 2 | Nuthatches | ||
| 6 | 2 | Treecreepers | ||
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14 | 0 | Gnatcatchers | |
| 83 | 1 | Wrens | ||
| 36 | 3 | Mockingbirds | ||
| 114 | 2 | Starlings and Mynas | ||
| 5 | 1 | Dippers | ||
| 422 | 50 | Thrushes, Chats & Flycatchers | ||
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55 | 0 | Flowerpeckers | |
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132 | 0 | Sunbirds and relatives | |
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10 | 0 | Leafbirds | |
| 13 | 2 | Accentors | ||
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118 | 0 | Weavers | |
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156 | 0 | Waxbills | |
| 36 | 4 | Sparrows | ||
| 67 | 15 | Wagtails and Pipits | ||
| 136 | 22 | Finches | ||
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22 | 0 | Hawaiian Honeycreepers | |
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43 | 2 | Cardinal Grosbeaks | |
| 413 | 2 | Tanagers | ||
| 291 | 27 | Buntings and New World Sparrows | ||
| 102 | 3 | New World Blackbirds | ||
| 116 | 18 | New World Warblers | ||
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170 | 9845 | 603 | |
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