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Bird genera

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Corvus
Corvus is a widely distributed genus of passerine birds ranging from medium-sized to large-sized in the family Corvidae. It includes species commonly known as crows, ravens, and rooks. The species commonly encountered in Europe are the carrion crow, hooded crow, common raven, and rook; those discovered later were named "crow" or "raven" chiefly on the basis of their size, crows generally being smaller. The genus name is Latin for "raven".
Phoenicopterus
Phoenicopterus is a genus of birds in the flamingo family Phoenicopteridae.
Columba
genus of pigeons
Archaeopteryx
Archaeopteryx (; ), sometimes referred to by its German name, "''''''" () is a genus of bird-like dinosaurs. The genus name derives from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'ancient', and (), meaning 'feather, wing'. Between the late 19th century and the early 21st century, Archaeopteryx was generally accepted by palaeontologists and popular reference books as the oldest known bird (member of the group Avialae). Older potential avialans have since been identified, including Anchiornis, Xiaotingia, Aurornis, and Baminornis.
Pavo
genus of birds
Anser
genus of birds
Passer
Passer is a genus of sparrows, also known as the true sparrows. The genus contains 28 species and includes the house sparrow and the Eurasian tree sparrow - two of the most common birds in the world. They are small birds with thick bills for eating seeds and are mostly coloured grey or brown. Native to the Old World, some species have been introduced throughout the world.
Accipiter
Accipiter () is a genus of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. Some species are called sparrowhawks, but there are many sparrowhawks in other genera such as Tachyspiza.
Rhea
genus of birds, ratites
Aquila
genus of birds
Phalacrocorax
Phalacrocorax is a genus of fish-eating birds in the cormorant family Phalacrocoracidae. Members of this genus are also known as the Old World cormorants.
Anas
Anas is a genus of dabbling ducks. It includes the pintails, most teals, and the mallard and its close relatives. It formerly included additional species but following the publication of a molecular phylogenetic study in 2009 the genus was split into four separate genera. The genus now contains 31 living species. The name Anas is the Latin for "duck".
Streptopelia
Streptopelia (collared doves and turtle doves) is a genus of 15 species of birds in the pigeon and dove family Columbidae native to the Old World in Africa, Europe, and Asia. These are mainly slim, small to medium-sized species. The upperparts tend to be buffy brown and the underparts are often a shade of pinkish-brown, and they have a characteristic black-and-white patch on the neck. They have cooing or purring songs, monotonous in some, restful and soothing in others. The genus divides into two groups, the collared dove group (11 species) with uniform upperparts and a black half-collar edged
Luscinia
Luscinia is a genus of smallish passerine birds, containing the nightingales and relatives. Formerly classed as members of the thrush family Turdidae, they are now considered to be Old World flycatchers (Muscicapidae) of the chat subfamily (Saxicolinae). The chats are a lineage of Old World flycatchers that has evolved convergently to thrushes.
Ciconia
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Branta
The black geese of the genus Branta are waterfowl belonging to the true geese and swans subfamily Anserinae. They occur in the northern coastal regions of the Palearctic and all over North America, migrating to more southerly coasts in winter, and as resident birds in the Hawaiian Islands. Alone in the Southern Hemisphere, a self-sustaining feral population derived from introduced Canada geese is also found in New Zealand.
Buteo
Buteo is a genus of medium to fairly large, wide-ranging raptors with a robust body and broad wings. In the Old World, members of this genus are called "buzzards", but "hawk" is used in the New World (Etymology: Buteo is the Latin name of the common buzzard). As both terms are ambiguous, buteo is sometimes used instead, for example, by the Peregrine Fund.
Larus
Larus is a large genus of gulls with worldwide distribution (by far the greatest species diversity is in the Northern Hemisphere).
Haliaeetus
Haliaeetus is a genus of four species of eagles, closely related to the sea eagles in the genus Icthyophaga.
Coturnix
Coturnix is a genus of five extant species and five to eight known extinct species of Old World quail.
Anthus
The pipits are a cosmopolitan genus, Anthus, of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. Along with the wagtails and longclaws, the pipits make up the family Motacillidae. The genus is widespread, occurring across most of the world, except the driest deserts, rainforest and the mainland of Antarctica.
Grus
genus of birds
Strix
genus of birds
Gyps
Gyps is a genus of Old World vultures that was proposed by Marie Jules César Savigny in 1809. Its members are sometimes known as griffon vultures. Gyps vultures have a slim head, a long slender neck with downy feathers, and a ruff around the neck formed by long buoyant feathers. The crown of their big beaks is a little compressed, and their big dark nostrils are set transverse to the beak. They have six or seven wing feathers, of which the first is the shortest and the fourth the longest.
Mergus
Mergus is the genus containing the typical mergansers ( ), fish-eating ducks in the subfamily Anatinae.
Ardea
genus of birds in the Heron family (Ardeidae)
Parus
Parus is a genus of Old World birds in the tit family Paridae. It was formerly a large genus containing most of the 50 odd species in the family Paridae. The genus was split into several resurrected genera following the publication of a detailed molecular phylogenetic analysis in 2013. The genus name, Parus, is the Latin word for "tit".
Perdix
Perdix is a genus of Galliform gamebirds known collectively as the 'true partridges'. These birds are unrelated to the subtropical species that have been named after the partridge due to similar size and morphology.
Fulica
Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus Fulica, the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usually easy to see, often swimming in open water.
Gallinago
Gallinago is a genus of birds in the wader family Scolopacidae, containing 18 species.
Ara
genus of birds
Sturnus
Sturnus is a genus of starlings. As discussed below, the taxonomy of this group is complex, and other authorities differ considerably in which species they place in this genus, and in the species boundaries within Sturnus. The genus name Sturnus is Latin for "starling".
Calidris
Calidris is a genus of Arctic-breeding, strongly migratory wading birds in the family Scolopacidae. These birds form huge mixed flocks on coasts and estuaries in winter. They are small to medium-sized sandpipers, long-winged and relatively short-billed; some are difficult to identify because of the similarity between species, and various breeding, non-breeding, juvenile, and moulting plumages. With a few exceptions, they have a fairly stereotypical colour pattern, being brownish above and lighter, usually white or buffy coloured, on much of the underside. They often have a lighter supercilium
Lagopus
Lagopus is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily commonly known as ptarmigans (). The genus contains four living species with numerous described subspecies, all living in tundra or cold upland areas.
Charadrius
Charadrius is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. They are found throughout the world.
Acrocephalus
genus of birds
Pica
genus of birds in the crow family (Corvidae)
Asio
Asio is a genus of typical owls, or true owls, in the family Strigidae. This group has representatives over most of the planet, and the short-eared owl is one of the most widespread of all bird species, breeding in Europe, Asia, North and South America, the Caribbean, Hawaii and the Galápagos Islands. Its geographic range extends to all continents except Antarctica and Australia.
Dendrocopos
Dendrocopos is a widespread genus of woodpeckers from Asia, Europe and Northern Africa. The species range from the Philippines to the British Isles.
Regulus
genus of birds
Carduelis
The genus Carduelis is a group of birds in the finch family Fringillidae.
Phoenicurus
Phoenicurus is a genus of passerine birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. They are named redstarts from their orange-red tails ('start' is an old name for a tail). They are small insectivores, the males mostly brightly coloured in various combinations of red, blue, white, and black, the females light brown with a red tail.
Fringilla
The genus Fringilla is a small group of eight species of finches from the Old World. It is the only genus in the subfamily Fringillinae.
Tringa
Tringa is a genus of waders, containing the shanks and tattlers. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1599. They are mainly freshwater birds, often with brightly coloured legs as reflected in the English names of six species, as well as the specific names of two of these and the green sandpiper. They are typically associated with northern hemisphere temperate regions for breeding. Some of this group—notably the green sandpiper and the solitary sandpiper—nest in trees, using the old nests of other birds, usually
Aythya
Aythya is a genus of diving ducks, with twelve species currently accepted. The genus was described in 1822 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie, with the type species being greater scaup. The name Aythya comes from the Ancient Greek word (), which referred to an unknown diving-bird.
Milvus
Milvus is a genus of medium-sized birds of prey. The genus was erected by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799 with the red kite as the type species. The name is the Latin word for the red kite.
Aptenodytes
The genus Aptenodytes contains two extant and one extinct species of penguins, collectively known as the great penguins.
Athene
genus of birds
Phalaropus
A phalarope is any of three living species of slender-necked shorebirds in the genus Phalaropus of the bird family Scolopacidae.
Botaurus
Botaurus is a genus of bitterns, a group of wading birds from the heron family Ardeidae. The genus includes species that were previously placed in the genus Ixobrychus.
Alauda
Alauda is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, with one species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. At least two additional species are known from the fossil record. The genus name is from Latin alauda, "lark". Pliny the Elder thought the word was originally of Celtic origin.
Picus
genus of birds
Vanellus
Vanellus is the genus of waders which provisionally contains all lapwings except red-kneed dotterel, Erythrogonys cinctus. The name "vanellus" is Latin for "little fan", vanellus being the diminutive of vannus ("winnowing fan"). The name is in reference to the sound lapwings' wings make in flight.
Apus
genus of birds
Garrulus
Garrulus is a genus of Old World jays, passerine birds in the family Corvidae.
Tetrao
Tetrao is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily known as capercaillies. They are some of the largest living grouse and can be found in the forested areas of the Eurasian Palearctic.
Phasianus
The "typical" pheasant genus Phasianus in the family Phasianidae consists of two species. The genus name is Latin for pheasant.
Francolinus
Francolinus is a genus of birds in the francolin group of the tribe Gallini in the pheasant family. ==Species== Its three species range from western Asia and central Asia through to southern Asia and south-eastern Asia. The species are:
Lanius
Lanius, the typical shrikes, are a genus of passerine birds in the shrike family Laniidae. The majority of the family's species are placed in this genus. The genus name, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding habits. The common English name "shrike" is from Old English scríc, "shriek", referring to the shrill call.
Aix
genus of birds