passerines
Sign in to saveA passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-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.
AI overview
Passerines are birds with a special toe arrangement—three toes pointing forward and one back—that makes them excellent at perching on branches, and they make up more than half of all bird species on Earth. Because they're so numerous and widespread, passerines are often the birds people encounter most frequently in their daily lives.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Image
- Cuervo grande (Corvus corax), Arcos de la Frontera, Cádiz, España, 2015-12-08, DD 07.JPG
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Article
19 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Description
- Anatomy
- Eggs and nests
- Origin and evolution
- Fossil record
- Earliest passerines
- Early European passerines
- American fossils
- Systematics and taxonomy
- Taxonomic list of Passeriformes families
- Suborder [[Acanthisitti]]
- Suborder [[Tyranni]] (suboscines)
- Suborder [[Passeri]] (oscines or songbirds)
- Phylogeny
- Explanatory notes
- References
- Further reading
- External links
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-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 is the largest order of birds and one of the most diverse clades of terrestrial vertebrates, representing 60% of birds. Passerines are divided into three suborders: New Zealand wrens; Suboscines, primarily found in North and South America; and songbirds. Passerines originated in the Southern Hemisphere around 60 million years ago.