Acanthizidae

Taxobox
name = Acanthizidae

---

image_caption = Weebill
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
subordo = Passeri
superfamilia = Meliphagoidea
familia = Acanthizidae
familia_authority = Sundevall, 1872
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = 14, see listThe Acanthizidae, also known as the Australasian Warblers, are a family of passerine birds which include gerygones, thornbills, and scrubwrens.

Description

The Acanthizidae consists of small to medium passerine birds, with a total length varying between 8 and 19 cm. They have short rounded wings, slender bills, long legs, and a short tail. Most species have olive, grey, or brown plumage, although some have patches of a brighter yellow. Most species are terrestrial, feeding primarily on insects, although also eating some seeds. There are exceptions, however, such as the Weebill, which forages in the treetops, or the rock-dwelling Origma. Unusually for birds of their size, they lay only one or two eggs in a clutch, possibly because they are relatively long-lived, with many species living to over ten years of age in the wild.cite book |editor=Forshaw, Joseph|author= Garnett, Stephen|year=1991|title=Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds|publisher= Merehurst Press|location=London|pages= 197|isbn= 1-85391-186-0]

Acanthizids are native to the Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, and the south-west Pacific. Most species are not migratory, with the exception of the gerygones.

Taxonomy

Following the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy (1990) they were previously regarded as subfamily Acanthizinae within the Pardalotidae family. However, current revisions (Christidis & Boles, 1994; Schodde & Mason 1999) don't support this arrangement. The Dasyornithidae (which include the bristlebirds) are variously seen either as subfamily Dasyornithinae within the Acanthizidae or Pardalotidae family or as own family (Schodde & Mason 1999).

Genera

The Acanthizidae family consists of the two subfamilies Sericornithinae and Acanthizinae (Schodde & Mason 1999), 14 genera, 63 species and 196 taxa.

FAMILY: ACANTHIZIDAE
* Subfamily: Sericornithinae
** Genus: "Pycnoptilus"
** Genus: "Origma"
** Genus: "Oreoscopus"
** Genus: "Crateroscelis"
** Genus: "Sericornis"
** Genus: "Acanthornis"
** Genus: "Hylacola"
** Genus: "Calamanthus"
** Genus: "Pyrrholaemus"
** Genus: "Chthonicola"
* Subfamily: Acanthizinae
** Genus: "Smicrornis"
** Genus: "Gerygone"
** Genus: "Acanthiza"
** Genus: "Aphelocephala"

References

* Christidis, L., and W.E. Boles. 1994. The taxonomy and species of Birds of Australia and its territories. R.A.O.U. Monograph 2: 1-112.
* del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2007). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions. ISBN 9788496553422
* Mason, Ian J. & Schodde, Richard. 1999. The Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines. ISBN 978-0643064560
* Sibley, C.G., and J.E. Ahlquist. 1990. Phylogeny and Classification of Birds: A Study in Molecular Evolution. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT. ISBN 978-0300040852