| Oriolidae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Black-naped oriole (Oriolus chinensis) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Superfamily: | Orioloidea |
| Family: | Oriolidae Vigors, 1825 |
| Genera | |
See text | |
The Old World orioles (Oriolidae) are an Old World family of passerine birds.
The family Oriolidae comprises the piopios, figbirds, pitohuis and the Old World orioles. [1] The piopios were added 2011, having been formerly placed in the family Turnagridae. [2] [3] Several other genera have been proposed to split up the genus Oriolus. For example, the African black-headed species are sometimes placed in a separate genus, Baruffius. The family Oriolidae is not related to the New World orioles, despite their similar size, diet, behaviour and contrasting plumage patterns. Rather, these similarities are an example of convergent evolution.
There are three extant genera in the family Oriolidae: [4]
| Image | Genus | Species |
|---|---|---|
 | Sphecotheres Vieillot, 1816 – figbirds |
|
 | Pitohui Lesson, 1831 – pitohuis |
|
 | Oriolus Linnaeus, 1766 – orioles |
|
There are at least two extinct genera in the family Oriolidae:
The orioles and figbirds are medium-sized passerines, around 20–30 cm in length, with the females only slightly smaller than the males. [5] The beak is slightly curved and hooked, and, except in the figbirds, as long again as the head. The plumage of most species is bright and showy, although the females often have duller plumage than the males do. The plumage of many Australasian orioles mimics that of friarbirds (a genus of large honeyeaters), probably to reduce aggression against the smaller orioles. [6]
The family is distributed across Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The few temperate nesting species are migratory, and some tropical species also show seasonal movements.
Orioles are monogamous, breeding in territorial pairs (although the Australasian figbird, and possibly also the other figbirds, breed in loose colonies). [5] Nesting sites may be chosen near aggressive species such as shrikes, drongos or friarbirds, which confer a degree of protection. The nest is a deep woven cup suspended like a hammock from a branch. They usually lay two or three eggs, but as many as six have been recorded.
Orioles are arboreal and tend to feed in the canopy. [5] Many species are able to survive in open forests and woodlands, although a few are restricted to closed forest. They are opportunistic omnivores, with the main components of their diet being fruit, berries, arthropods, and nectar.
A passerine is any bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their toes, which facilitates perching.
Orioles are colourful Old World passerine birds in the genus Oriolus, the type genus of the corvoidean family Oriolidae. They are not closely related to the New World orioles, which are icterids that belong to the superfamily Passeroidea.
The New Zealand wrens are a family (Acanthisittidae) of tiny passerines endemic to New Zealand. They were represented by seven Holocene species in four or five genera, although only two species in two genera survive today. They are understood to form a distinct lineage within the passerines, but authorities differ on their assignment to the oscines or suboscines. More recent studies suggest that they form a third, most ancient, suborder Acanthisitti and have no living close relatives at all. They are called "wrens" due to similarities in appearance and behaviour to the true wrens (Troglodytidae) but are not members of that family.
The Eurasian golden oriole also called the common golden oriole, is the only member of the Old World oriole family of passerine birds breeding in Northern Hemisphere temperate regions. It is a summer migrant in Europe and Palearctic and spends the winter season in central and southern Africa.
Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that includes the typical warblers and a number of babblers formerly placed within the Old World babbler family. They are found in Eurasia and Africa.
The Old World babblers or Timaliidae are a family of mostly Old World passerine birds. They are rather diverse in size and coloration, but are characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The timaliids are one of two unrelated groups of birds known as babblers, the other being the Australasian babblers of the family Pomatostomidae.
The cuckooshrikes and allies in the family Campephagidae are small to medium-sized passerine bird species found in the subtropical and tropical Africa, Asia and Australasia. The 93 species are divided into 11 genera. The woodshrikes (Tephrodornis) were often considered to be in this family but are now placed in their own family, Vangidae, along with the philentomas and the flycatcher-shrikes. Another genus, Chlamydochaera, which has one species, the black-breasted fruithunter, was often placed in this family but has now been shown to be a thrush (Turdidae).
The drongos are a family, Dicruridae, of passerine birds of the Old World tropics. The 31 species in the family are placed in a single genus, Dicrurus.
The figbirds are a genus (Sphecotheres) in the family of Old World orioles found in wooded habitats in Australia, New Guinea, and the Lesser Sundas.
The monarchs comprise a family of over 100 passerine birds which includes shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and magpie-larks.
The piopio or turnagras are an extinct genus of passerine birds in the family Oriolidae, that were endemic to New Zealand. Sometimes described as New Zealand thrushes, the piopio had only a coincidental, passing resemblance to the thrush family.
The South Island piopio also known as the New Zealand thrush, was a passerine bird of the family Oriolidae.
The silktails are a group of birds endemic to Fiji. The two species are placed in the genus Lamprolia. They look superficially like a diminutive bird-of-paradise but are actually closely related to the fantails.
The cerulean flycatcher is a medium-sized, blue passerine with bright cerulean blue plumage, a bare white orbital ring, dark brown iris, bluish black bill and pale blue-grey below. The young has a shorter tail and grey underparts. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Eutrichomyias. Although it resembles a monarch flycatcher, it is actually related to the fantails.
The drongo fantail, also known as the pygmy drongo, is a species of passerine bird endemic to the island of New Guinea. It is the only species in the genus Chaetorhynchus. The species was long placed within the drongo family Dicruridae, but it differs from others in that family in having twelve rectrices instead of ten. Molecular analysis also supports moving the species out from the drongo family, instead placing it as a sister species to the silktail of Fiji, and both those species in the fantail family Rhipiduridae.
A shrikethrush, also spelled shrike-thrush, is any one of eleven species of songbird that is a member of the genus Colluricincla. They have nondescript, predominantly brown or grey, plumage, but are accomplished singers, their calls described as "strong, mellow and beautiful." Shrikethrushes are generally insectivorous, though have been recorded eating molluscs and berries. They build cup-shaped nests in the forks of trees.
The Indian golden oriole is a species of oriole found in the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia. The species was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Eurasian golden oriole, but is now considered a full species. Adults can be told apart from the Eurasian golden oriole by the black of the eye stripe extending behind the eye.
The Australasian figbird, also known as the green figbird, is a conspicuous, medium-sized passerine bird native to a wide range of wooded habitats in northern and eastern Australia, southern New Guinea, and the Kai Islands. It is common in large parts of its range, and occurs in numerous protected areas. Consequently, it is rated as least concern by BirdLife International and the IUCN.
Longmornis robustirostrata is an extinct genus and species of bird in the old world oriole family. It was described from Early Miocene material found at the Neville's Garden fossil site at Riversleigh in north-western Queensland, Australia. Its closest living relatives are the figbirds (Sphecotheres), which its beak most closely resembles. It was named in honour of Noel Wayne Longmore, an ornithologist of the Australian Museum, and for its broad, robustly built beak. It was a mid to large-sized passerine, comparable in size to the Australian black-faced cuckooshrike, and was presumed to be a frugivore like modern figbirds.
