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.
A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin oscen, "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5,000 or so species found all over the world, in which the vocal organ typically is developed in such a way as to produce a diverse and elaborate bird song.
The eastern whipbird is an insectivorous passerine bird native to the east coast of Australia. Its whip-crack song is a familiar sound in forests of eastern Australia. Two subspecies are recognised. Heard much more often than seen, it is dark olive-green and black in colour with a distinctive white cheek patch and a crest. The male and female are similar in plumage.
The lesser melampitta is a medium-sized enigmatic terrestrial songbird of mountain forests of New Guinea. It is the only species in the genus Melampitta. It is now classified in the family Melampittidae, but in some other sources it is variously considered close to or in the Orthonychidae (logrunners), Paradisaeidae, Corcoracidae, Cnemophilidae (satinbirds) or Monarchidae.
The rail-babbler or Malaysian rail-babbler is a strange, rail-like, brown and pied ground-living bird. It is the only species in the genus Eupetes and family Eupetidae. It lives on the floor of primary forests in the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, as well as Borneo. It is distantly related to African crow-like birds. Its population has greatly decreased because much of the lowland primary forest has been cut, and secondary forests usually have too dense a bottom vegetation or do not offer enough shade to be favourable for the species. However, it is locally still common in logged forest or on hill-forest on slopes, and probably not in immediate danger of extinction. The species is poorly known and rarely seen, in no small part due to its shyness.
The black-throated whipbird is a passerine bird found in several scattered populations in Southwest Australia. It is predominantly olive green in colour. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the white-bellied whipbird, so shares the common name "western whipbird".
Whipbirds and wedgebills are collectively recognised in the genus Psophodes. Wedgebills are divided into the chirruping wedgebill and the chiming wedgebill. Whipbirds are divided into the eastern whipbird and the western whipbird. Subspecies of the western whipbird residing in Western Australia are known to be endangered. Psophodes is a genus of five species of songbirds endemic to Australia, known as whipbirds and wedgebills.
The Papuan whipbird is a little-known and unobtrusive species of bird in the family Psophodidae. It is monotypic within the genus Androphobus. It is found in Western New Guinea.
Cnemophilus is a genus of satinbirds in the family Cnemophilidae, in which all three species are native to New Guinea mountain slopes and highlands in tropical forests. The generic name Cnemophilus is Latin for "mountain/slope-lover".
The melampittas are a family, Melampittidae, of New Guinean birds containing two enigmatic species. The two species are found in two genera, the greater melampitta in the genus Megalampitta and the lesser melampitta in the genus Melampitta. They are little studied and before being established as a family in 2014 their taxonomic relationships with other birds were uncertain, being considered at one time related variously to the pittas, Old World babblers and birds-of-paradise.
The chiming wedgebill, sometimes referred to as chiming whipbird, is a species of bird in the family Psophodidae. It is endemic to Australia. The chiming wedgebill and chirruping wedgebill were considered a single species until as late as 1973, when they were separated due to marked differences in their calls.
The jewel-babblers are the bird genus Ptilorrhoa in the family Cinclosomatidae. The genus contains four species that are endemic to New Guinea. The genus was once considered to contain the rail-babbler, but that species is now considered to belong to its own family. The genus is closely related to the better known quail-thrushes (Cinclosoma) of New Guinea and Australia. Together with a number of other genera they comprise the family Cinclosomatidae, although the validity of this family as a whole has been questioned.
Cinclosomatidae is a family of passerine birds native to Australia and New Guinea. It has a complicated taxonomic history and different authors vary in which birds they include in the family. It includes the quail-thrushes and jewel-babblers.
Corvides is a clade of birds in the order of Passeriformes. Previously referred to as the core Corvoidea, the evolutionary history and biogeography, behavior and eco-morphology of Corvides has been extensively studied. Corvides appear to represent an island radiation, which colonized all continents except Antarctica.
The white-bellied whipbird, also called the Mallee whipbird, is a species of bird in the family Psophodidae. It is endemic to southern Australia.
