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BIRD FAMILIES OF THE WORLD |
19th edition
list last revised August 2025
this list has 260 extant families
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The purpose of Bird
Families of the World is as an aid to world birders who
want to maximize their enjoyment of avian diversity by seeing members
of as many bird families as is reasonable within the time and money
available for travel, and as a study tool for anyone. This project began in 1999. Since then, molecular evidence has revised much of what was thought to be known about bird evolution and relationships.
It was a wild ride for nearly two decades as new research was published, and throughout those decades, I've advocated for more consistency in the use of evidence across bird families. Now, in 2025, a much higher degree of consensus has been reached between the various global checklists. Still, there is more to be learned and I retain some families that have not yet been widely accepted, but may be elevated to Family level in the future.
This update, called the 19th edition, provides a few minor revisions. This is because the current set and sequence of bird families has become more or less stabilized after two decades of genetic research. The small changes highlighted below in the first light blue box — two additions, two subtractions — leave my list of bird families at 260 extant families.
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This project was not entirely academic. Another purpose was personal: to help me structure our travel in search of a still-living member of every bird family. I could average about one foreign birding trip a year, and I wanted to make sure that we would try to find all those birds that might be split at the Family level. I also wanted to know something about the birds I was seeking, and writing pages on every family required research — I learned a lot.
It took 40 years but, on 15 Nov 2022, at this shallow lagoon on the Stoebel Plateau in Patagonia, Argentina (below left), with cold glacierial winds howling at 40 knots (we are physically leaning into the wind), my wife Rita Carratello and I saw my final bird family: Magellanic Plover (below right). Absent unexpected future taxonomic revisions, I've now seen a member of every bird family still existing on Earth. |
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An 18 page set on my efforts to see all the bird families, and to photograph most of them, begins with an introduction. Set out below on this page is a taxonomy of the Bird Families of the World, with links to a separate page for each bird family. You'd have to check out 260 pages to see photos of every bird family. Alternatively, you can view at least one photo of at least 241 families in my personal bird family gallery. |
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| This web project began on 9 Feb 1999 when I posted a short page on the Dulidae [Palmchat]. While the list of Bird Families has been regularly updated to accommodate new research through 17 editions, it was not until 17 years and a month [6238 days] that, with the posting of the Vireonidae [Vireos], this project finally had a web page with text and photos for every family. At that time, many of the old pages badly need updating in both layout, text, and photos but at least my initial goal had been reached. I've updated many old pages in the last few years, but some still need work. Pages with a white background are now old pages (more than a dozen years old) and badly need revision; pages updated 5-10 years ago have a light green background; pages with a forest green background (like this one) have been created or updated within the last half–decade. I've used my own photos when I had them, but I'm grateful to the many photographers around the world who've permitted me to use their wonderful shots when I needed them. – D. Roberson, 20 May 2021 |
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In putting together this list, I've been influenced by the Winkler et al. Bird Families of the World book (2015), the Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) project and continuing Birdlife International lists, updated decisions of the eBird/Clements world checklist, the IOC world checklist, the American Ornithological Society's Check-list of North American Birds for Middle and North America (often called the AOU or AOS list in these pages), the South American Classification Committee checklist, and John Boyd's Avian Taxonomy in Flux. Research books include Christidis & Boles (2008) Systematics & taxonomy of Australian Birds and the Howard & Moore Checklist (4th ed., 2 vols).
[Full disclosure — I was a volunteer junior member of the Clements team (2011-2018) but I continue to depart from Clements for purposes of this project.]
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HIGHTLIGHTS OF CHANGES in this 19th edition
I make only one family changes in this 19th edition. The addition is family Salpornithidae, the Spotted Creepers. Further, I've resequenced the list of bird families to follow the current 2024 Clements checklist. There are a few minor changes in sequence among Non-passerines, particularly affecting Flamingos and Grebes, but none (except to add the Spotted Creepers) in the Passerines.
My 18th edition, posted one and-a half years ago, also added just one family, the Elanidae, following Starikov & Wink (2020) who opine, based on molecular evidence, that "mitochondrial and nuclear markers . . . combined with morphological, cytogenetic, and ecological date" warrant the elevation of the Elanin kites to family Elanidae. These involve the Elanus and Chelictinia kites, and Pearl Kite Gampsonyx swainsonii. Their data suggest these kites diverged from the rest of Accipitridae ~21 million years ago. This divergence date is quite similar to divergence dates in families within the Charadriiformes, for example (see Cerny & Natale 2022 for one recent time-dating hypothesis).
The deletion is to follow Christidis & Boles (2008), and all updated global checklists, in merging the Australo–Papuan Butcherbirds and allies into the woodswallow family Artamidae. Behaviorally, woodswallows (genus Artamus) and the two peltops (Peltops) are distinctive sit-and-wait predators of flying insects, compared to the more corvid-like omnivores — characteristics that make them easily separable — but a series of studies have shown that together they are a strongly supported clade within the Corvoidae (summarized in Winkler et al. 2015). In 2025, the SACC was the last current significant checklist to more Skimmers to a subfamily of the Laridae. They previously had listed it as a Family. I follow that decision, and now consider the Rynchopinae a subfamily.
Net result: no net change in total families from the 18th edition [still 260 extant families]
There has been a trend towards higher numbers of Families in recent years. Following recent decisions by the AOS-NACC, IOC, Clements, Birdlife International, and Winkler et al. (2015) — outlined in my 17th edition —I finally accepted as a fait accompli the elevation to Family level of all the New World nine-primaried passerine families first proposed in Barker et al. (2013). This was with reluctance, as I had hoped ornithologists could reach some reasonable standard by which families could be measured, perhaps something like a divergence date of 18-20 million years ago (mya), at least for passerine families. This hasn't happened. Even the monotypic Yellow-breasted Chat [Icteriidae] was moved near the Icterids and elevated to Family level, making it the youngest family of all bird families at only ~11 mya. It also created a formal Family name [Icteriidae] that will be confused with that of the Orioles and allies [Icteridae]. It remains disappointing that a lack of consistent in application of thought and a discussion (or lack thereof) or divergence times in deciding what is, or is not, a Family. There remains uncertain about some avian relationships.
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The newest Bird Families book [Winkler et al. 2015] had 243 families. My list in this edition has 260 families, 17 more than the Bird Families book: Ground-Hornbills [also split by Clements, IOC], Elanin Kites (Starikov & Wink 2022), Old World Parrots & Lories [Psittaculidae; also split by Clements, IOC, AOU, SACC], Sharpbill [Oxyruncidae; split by SACC, Clements], Royal Flycatchers [split by AOU, IOC], Shrike-babblers and Silktails [both splits recommended by Jønsson et al. (2016) on evidence of ancient divergences], Erpornis, "Bristle-flycatchers" [Erythrocercidae; also split by Clements and IOC] are now generally called Yellow Flycatchers, White-crowned Shrikes (Fuchs et al. 2019), the Alcippe Fulvettas (Cai et al. 2019), Hylias (split by Clements & IOC), Wallcreeper [Tichodromidae; also split by Clements, IOC], Parrotbills & allies [Paradoxornithidae; also split by IOC and others], Cinnamon Ibon (based on ancient divergence), and the newest, the Spotted Creepers. In short, this list incorporates all of the extant families adopted by Clements, AOU, SACC, or IOC [except Bananaquit]. |
My listing is of extant bird families. The Mohoidae, an endemic family from Hawaii that included 5 species in genus Moho and one in genus Chaetoptila that had traditionally been considered honeyeaters in the Meliphagidae. Genetic evidence proved they were not honeyeaters, but that they were related to silky-flycatchers, waxwings, and other bombycillids. The Mohoidae is now extinct, so it is not possible to search for any of its members. The last remaining species was Kauai Oo, last proven alive in 1987, and now considered extinct. Thus, when comparing number of families between various list, it is important to use the list of extant families. Clements states this number explicitly; IOC apparently does not. |
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HIGHLIGHTS
OF CHANGES in the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th and 12th editions are now available through this separate link to the 12th edition (2012). The footnotes and citations in the 13th edition are now at a separate link to the 13th edition (2015).
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This site is not affiliated with
the Handbook project but I highly recommend the books; click on
the banner below
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Literature cited in this introduction:
Barker, F.K., A. Cibois, P. Schikler, J. Feinstein, and J. Cracraft. 2004. Phylogeny and diversification of the largest avian radiation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 101: 11040–11045.
Barker, F.K., K.J. Burns, J. Klicka, S.M. Lanyon, and I.J. Lovette. 2013. Going to extremes: contrasting rates of diversification in a recent radiation of New World passerine birds. Syst. Biol. 62: 298–320.
Burns, K.J., A.J. Schultz, P.O. Title, N.A. Mason, F.K. Barker, J. Klicka, S.M. Lanyon, and I.J. Lovette. 2014. Phylogenetics and diversification of tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae), the largest radiation of Neotropical songbirds. Molec. Phylog. Evol. 75: 41-77.
Cai, T., A. Cibois, P. Alström, R.G. Moyle, J.D. Kennedy, S. Shaoh, R. Zhang, M. Irestedt, P.G.P. Ericson, M. Gelang, Y. Qu, F. Lei, J. Fjeldså. 2019. Near-complete phylogeny and taxonomic revision of the world’s babblers (Aves: Passeriformes). Molec. Phylog. Evol. 130: 346-356.
Cerný, D., and R. Natale. 2022. Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes). Molec. Phylog. Evol. 177: xx–xx.
Dickinson, E.C., and L. Christidis. 2014. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World: Passerines Vol. 2. Aves Press, Eastbourne, U.K.
Fuchs, J., P. Alström, R. Yosef, and U. Olsson. 2019. Miocene diversification of an open-habitat predatorial passerine radiation, the shrikes (Aves: Passeriformes: Laniidae). Zoologica Scripta 48: 571–588.
Johansson, U.S., J. Fjeldså, and C.K. Bowie. 2008. Phylogenetic relationships within Passerida (Aves: Passeriformes): A review and a new molecular phylogeny based on three nuclear intron markers. Molec. Phylog. Evol. 48: 858–876.
Jønsson, K.A., P-H. Fabre, J.D. Kennedy, B.G. Holt, M.K. Borregaard, C. Rahbek, and J. Fjeldså. 2016. A supermatrix phylogeny of corvoid passerine birds (Aves: Corvides). Molec. Phylog. Evol. 94: 87-94.
Ohlson, J.I., M. Irestedt, P.G.P. Ericson, and J. Fjeldså. 2013. Phylogeny and classification of the New World suboscines (Aves, Passeriformes). Zootaxa 3613: 1-35.
Prum, R.O., J.S. Bery, A. Dornburg, D.J. Field, J.P. Townsend, E.M. Lemmon, and A.R. Lemmon. 2015. A comprehensive phylogeny of birds (Aves) using targeted next-generation DNA sequencing. Nature 526: 569–573.
Schodde, R., and L. Christidis. 2014. Relicts from Tertiary Australasia: undescribed families and subfamilies of songbirds (Passeriformes) and their zoogeographic signal. Zootaxa 3786: 501-522.
Starikow, I.J., and M. Wink. 2020. Old and Cosmopolite: molecular phylogeny of tropical–subtropical kites (Aves: Elaninae) with taxonomic implications. Diversity 12: 327–342.
Winkler, D.W., S.W. Billerman, and I.J. Lovette. 2015. Birds Families of the World: A Guide to the Spectacular Diversity of Birds. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
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Older essays, a long list of prior literature cited, and footnotes [now discontinued]
are found at the bottom of the 13th ed of this Checklist |
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