- 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 includegerygone s,thornbill s, andscrubwren s.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-dwellingOrigma . 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 thePardalotidae family. However, current revisions (Christidis & Boles, 1994; Schodde & Mason 1999) don't support this arrangement. The Dasyornithidae (which include thebristlebirds ) 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
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