Sylviidae

Sylviidae
Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Infraorder:	Passerida
Superfamily:	Sylvioidea
Family:	Sylviidae Vigors, 1825
Genera
See text
Synonyms
Paradoxornithidae

Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that was part of an assemblage known as the Old World warblers. The family was a wastebin taxon with over 400 species of bird in over 70 genera. The family was poorly defined with many characteristics shared with other families. Advances in classification, particularly helped with molecular data, have led to the splitting out of several new families from within this group. Today the smaller family Sylviidae includes the typical warblers in the genus Sylvia, the parrotbills of Asia (formerly a separate family Paradoxornithidae), a number of babblers formerly placed within the family Timaliidae (which is being split) and the wrentit, an unusual North American bird that has been a longstanding taxonomic mystery.

There is now evidence that these Sylvia "warblers" are more closely related to babblers [Timaliidae], and thus these birds are better referred to as Sylvia babblers, or just sylvids.^[1]

Description

Sylviids are small to medium-sized birds. The bill is generally thin and pointed with bristles at the base. Sylviids have a slender shape and an inconspicuous and mostly plain plumage. The wings have ten primaries, which are rounded and short in non-migratory species.^[2]

Species

Family Sylviidae sensu stricto

True warblers (or sylviid warblers) and parrotbills. A fairly diverse group of smallish taxa with longish tails. Mostly in Asia, to a lesser extent in Africa. A few range into Europe; one monotypic genus on west coast of North America.

• Myzornis - fire-tailed myzornis^[3]
• Parophasma - Abyssinian catbird
• Sylvia - typical warblers (c.20 species). Paraphyletic or contains Parisoma
  • Temperate Eurasian superspecies ("atricapilla-borin group")
    • Eurasian blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla
    • Garden warbler, Sylvia borin
  • Parisoma superspecies
    • Banded warbler, Parisoma boehmi
    • Layard's warbler, Parisoma layardi
    • Rufous-vented warbler, Parisoma subcaeruleum
  • curruca clade
    • Brown warbler, Parisoma lugens
    • Yemen warbler, Sylvia buryi - sometimes placed in Parisoma
    • Arabian warbler, Sylvia leucomelaena
    • (Western) Orphean warbler, Sylvia hortensis
      • Eastern Orphean warbler, Sylvia (hortensis) crassirostris
    • Lesser whitethroat, Sylvia curruca
    • Hume's whitethroat, Sylvia althaea
    • Small whitethroat, Sylvia minula
      • Margelanic whitethroat, Sylvia (minula) margelanica
  • communis-melanocephala assemblage
    • Barred warbler, Sylvia nisoria - tentatively place here
    • Asian desert warbler, Sylvia nana
    • African desert warbler, Sylvia deserti
    • Whitethroat, Sylvia communis
    • Spectacled warbler, Sylvia conspicillata
    • Tristram's warbler, Sylvia deserticola
    • Dartford warbler, Sylvia undata
    • Marmora's warbler, Sylvia sarda
      • Balearic warbler, Sylvia (sarda) balearica
    • Rüppell's warbler, Sylvia rueppelli
    • Cyprus warbler, Sylvia melanothorax
    • (Western) subalpine warbler, Sylvia cantillans
      • Eastern subalpine warbler, Sylvia (cantillans) albistriata
      • Moltoni's warbler, Sylvia (cantillans) moltonii
    • Sardinian warbler, Sylvia melanocephala
      • Sylvia (melanocephala) momus
      • Fayyum warbler, Sylvia melanocephala/momus norissae - doubtfully distinct, extinct (c. 1940)
    • Menetries' warbler, Sylvia mystacea
• Lioptilus - bush blackcap. Formerly in Timaliidae
• Pseudoalcippe - African hill babbler. Formerly in Illadopsis (Timaliidae)
• Horizorhinus - Dohrn's thrush-babbler. Formerly in Timaliidae
• Rhopophilus - white-browed Chinese warbler. Formerly in Cisticolidae
• Lioparus - golden-breasted fulvetta. Formerly in Alcippe (Timaliidae)
• Paradoxornis - (3 species). Formerly in Paradoxornithidae
• Conostoma - great parrotbill. Formerly in Paradoxornithidae; tentatively placed here
• Cholornis - (2 species). Formerly in Paradoxornithidae;
• Sinosuthora - (6 species). Formerly in Paradoxornithidae;
• Suthora - (3 species). Formerly in Paradoxornithidae;
• Neosuthora - short-tailed parrotbill. Formerly in Paradoxornithidae;
• Chleuasicus - pale-billed parrotbill. Formerly in Paradoxornithidae;
• Psittiparus - (4 species). Formerly in Paradoxornithidae;
• Fulvetta - typical fulvettas (7 species). Formerly in Alcippe (Timaliidae)
• Chrysomma - 3 species. Formerly in Timaliidae
• Chamaea - wrentit

References

1. http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/sylvids.html
2. del Hoyo, J. Elliott, A. & Christie, D. (editors). (2006) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Lynx Edicions. ISBN 84-96553-06-X
3. Gelang, Magnus; Alice Cibois; Eric Pasquet; Urban Olsson; Per Alström; Per G. P Ericson (2009). "Phylogeny of babblers (Aves, Passeriformes): major lineages, family limits and classification". Zoologica Scripta 38 (3): 225–236. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2008.00374.x.