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 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.
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 white-eyes are a family, Zosteropidae, of small passerine birds native to tropical, subtropical and temperate Sub-Saharan Africa, southern and eastern Asia, and Australasia. White-eyes inhabit most tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, the western Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of Guinea. Discounting some widespread members of the genus Zosterops, most species are endemic to single islands or archipelagos. The silvereye, Zosterops lateralis, naturally colonised New Zealand, where it is known as the "wax-eye" or tauhou ("stranger"), from 1855. The silvereye has also been introduced to the Society Islands in French Polynesia, while the Japanese white-eye has been introduced to Hawaii.
The drongos are a family, Dicruridae, of passerine birds of the Old World tropics. The 28 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.
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.
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.
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.
