Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occurs in Australia. Habitats vary widely, but many species live in dry regions. When the word "lark" is used without specification, it often refers to the Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis).
The Pelecaniformes are an order of medium-sized and large waterbirds found worldwide. As traditionally—but erroneously—defined, they encompass all birds that have feet with all four toes webbed. Hence, they were formerly also known by such names as totipalmates or steganopodes. Most have a bare throat patch, and the nostrils have evolved into dysfunctional slits, forcing them to breathe through their mouths. They also have a pectinate nail on their longest toe. This is shaped like a comb and is used to brush out and separate their feathers. They feed on fish, squid, or similar marine life. Nesting is colonial, but individual birds are monogamous. The young are altricial, hatching from the egg helpless and naked in most. They lack a brood patch.
Hippolais is a genus of tree warbler in the family Acrocephalidae. It is sometimes associated with the genus Iduna. The genus name Hippolais is from Ancient Greek hupolais, as misspelt by Linnaeus. It referred to a small bird mentioned by Aristotle and others and may be onomatopoeic or derived from hupo,"under", and laas, "stone".
The thick-billed warbler breeds in the temperate east Palearctic, from south Siberia to west Mongolia. It is migratory, wintering in tropical South Asia and South-east Asia. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
The eastern olivaceous warbler is a small passerine bird with drab plumage tones, that is native to the Old World. For the most part it breeds in southeastern Europe, the Middle East and adjacent western Asia, and winters in the northern Afrotropics.
The booted warbler is an Old World warbler in the tree warbler group. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with Sykes's warbler, but the two are now usually both afforded species status. Booted warbler itself breeds from central Russia to western China, and migrates to winter in the Indian subcontinent as far south as Sri Lanka. Booted warbler has expanded its breeding range westward in recent decades and nests now as far west and north as Finland. It is a small passerine bird, found in open country with bushes and other tall vegetation. Three or four eggs are laid in a nest in a bush or vegetation. Like most warblers they are insectivorous.
Sykes's warbler is an Old World warbler in the tree warbler family. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the booted warbler, but is now considered a full species. Its breeding range is from northeast Arabia to Turkestan, west China and Afghanistan. Like the booted warbler, many populations of the species migrate in winter to the Indian subcontinent as far south as Sri Lanka.
Passerida is, under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two parvorders contained within the suborder Passeri. While more recent research suggests that its sister parvorder, Corvida, is not a monophyletic grouping, the Passerida as a distinct clade are widely accepted.
Avulavirinae is a subfamily of viruses in the family Paramyxoviridae. Members of the subfamily are collectively known as avulaviruses. All members of the subfamily primarily infect birds. Avulavirinae was previously recognized as the genus Avulavirus before being elevated to a subfamily. The term avula comes from "avian rubula", distinguishing it from rubulaviruses of the subfamily Rubulavirinae due to avulaviruses only infecting birds and translating protein V from an edited RNA transcript. The most notable avulavirus is the Newcastle disease virus, a strain of Avian orthoavulavirus 1.
The Cape grassbird or Cape grass warbler is an African warbler found in southern Africa. It is the only species placed in the genus Sphenoeacus.
The African yellow warbler, also known as Natal yellow warbler, dark-capped yellow warbler or yellow flycatcher-warbler, is a species of Acrocephalidae warblers; formerly, these were placed in the paraphyletic "Old World warblers".
The green hylia is a monotypic genus widespread in tropical Africa, where it mostly inhabits the understory and mid-stratum of moist forest. It is a canopy insectivore which had been tentatively placed within the family of Cettiidae warblers, but in 2019 its assignment to a new family, the Hyliidae, was strongly supported.
Schoenicola is a genus of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. There are two species, both from peninsular India. The genus has been placed in the subfamily Megalurinae.
Cettiidae is a newly validated family of small insectivorous songbirds ("warblers"), formerly placed in the Old World warbler "wastebin" assemblage. It contains the typical bush warblers (Cettia) and their relatives. As a common name, cettiid warblers is usually used.
The streaked scrub warbler, also known simply as the scrub warbler, is a small passerine bird. It is the only species placed in the genus Scotocerca. It is found in northern Africa and south-western Asia. It is a bird of desert fringes, frequenting scrubby areas, ravines and gorges, and is mainly resident, although local movements can occur outside the breeding season.
Sylvioidea is a superfamily of passerine birds, one of at least three major clades within the Passerida along with the Muscicapoidea and Passeroidea. It contains about 1300 species including the Old World warblers, Old World babblers, swallows, larks and bulbuls. Members of the clade are found worldwide, but fewer species are present in the Americas.
The African warblers are a newly erected family Macrosphenidae, of African songbirds. Most of the species were formerly placed in the Old World warbler family Sylviidae, although one species, the rockrunner, was placed in the babbler family, Timaliidae. A series of molecular studies of the Old World warblers and other bird families in the superfamily Sylvioidea found that the African warblers were not part of Sylviidae but were instead an early (basal) offshoot of the entire clade Sylvioidea. Some taxonomic authorities place the entire family Hyliidae here.
Iduna is a genus of tree warbler in the family Acrocephalidae. Keyserling and Blasius gave no explanation of the genus name Iduna. It is sometimes lumped in the genus Hippolais, although in 2009 it was found to belong to the Iduna clade.
The jungle babblers are a family, Pellorneidae, of mostly Old World passerine birds belonging to the superfamily Sylvioidea. They are quite diverse in size and coloration, and usually characterised by soft, fluffy plumage and a tail on average the length of their body, or longer. These birds are found in tropical zones, with the greatest biodiversity in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
Hyliidae is a family of passerine birds which contains just two species, the green hylia and the tit hylia. Physiological similarities and molecular phylogenetic studies strongly support the creation of this family.
