The Acanthizidae—known as Australian warblers—are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

birds which includes

gerygone ''Gerygone'' (), the gerygones or peep-warblers, is a genus of bird in the family Acanthizidae. The genus ranges from Southeast Asia through New Guinea and Australia to New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. Most of the species are found in Austr ...

s, the thornbills '' Acanthiza'', and the scrubwrens of '' Sericornis''. The Acanthizidae family consists of small to medium passerine birds, with a total length varying between . 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. The weebill is the smallest species of acanthizid, and the smallest Australian passerine; the largest is the

pilotbird The pilotbird (''Pycnoptilus floccosus'') is a species of passerine bird in the family Acanthizidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Pycnoptilus''. The species is endemic to south-eastern Australia. Taxonomy The species was first described ...

Taxonomy and systematics

Following the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy (1990) they were previously regarded as subfamily Acanthizinae within the family Pardalotidae. More recent molecular genetic studies do not support this arrangement. The Dasyornithidae (which include the

bristlebirds The bristlebirds are a family of passerine birds, Dasyornithidae. There are three species in one genus, ''Dasyornis''. The family is endemic to the south-east coast and south-west corner of Australia.Del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (e ...

) are variously seen either as subfamily Dasyornithinae within the family Acanthizidae or Pardalotidae or as own family (Schodde & Mason 1999). A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2019 found that the family Acanthizidae is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

to the pardalotes in the small family Pardalotidae. The pardalotes are native to Australia.

List of genera

The family contains 67 species divided in 15 genera. *''

Pachycare The goldenface (''Pachycare flavogriseum'') is a species of passerine bird endemic to New Guinea. It is the only species (monotypic) within the genus ''Pachycare''. Taxonomy and systematics The placement of this species and genus within the pas ...

'' – the goldenface ''Pachycare flavogriseum'' *'' Oreoscopus'' – the fern-wren ''Oreoscopus gutturalis'' *''

Acanthornis The scrubtit (''Acanthornis magna'') is a species of bird in the thornbill family Acanthizidae. It is endemic to Tasmania and King Island in Australia. Its natural habitat is the temperate rainforest, ''Nothofagus'' beech forest and eucalypt woo ...

'' – scrubtit ''Acanthornis magna'' *'' Smicrornis'' – the weebill ''Smicrornis brevirostris'' *'' Calamanthus'' – fieldwrens (three species) *'' Hylacola'' – heathwrens (two species) *'' Pycnoptilus'' – the pilotbird ''Pycnoptilus floccosus'' *''

Pyrrholaemus ''Pyrrholaemus'' is a genus of birds in the family Acanthizidae. The genus was introduced by the English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould in 1841. The name ''Pyrrholaemus'' is from classical Greek ''purrhos'' meaning "flame-coloured" or ...

'' – (two species) *''

Origma ''Origma'' is a genus of passerine birds in the family Acanthizidae. A molecular phylogenetic study of the scrubwrens and mouse-warblers published in 2018 led to a revision of the taxonomic classification. The genus ''Origma'' had previously co ...

'' – (three species) *'' Neosericornis'' – the yellow-throated scrubwren ''Neosericornis citreogularis'' *'' Aethomyias'' – scrubwrens (six species) *'' Sericornis'' – scrubwrens (eight species) *''

Gerygone ''Gerygone'' (), the gerygones or peep-warblers, is a genus of bird in the family Acanthizidae. The genus ranges from Southeast Asia through New Guinea and Australia to New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. Most of the species are found in Austr ...

'' – gerygones (20 species including one now extinct) *'' Acanthiza'' – thornbills (14 species) *''

Aphelocephala ''Aphelocephala'' is a genus of bird in the thornbill family Acanthizidae. The three species are collectively known as whitefaces. They are endemic to Australia, generally occurring in the arid centre of the continent. They are a striking lookin ...

'' – whitefaces (three species)

Distribution and habitat

Acanthizids are native to Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, and the southwest Pacific. The greatest diversity is found in Australia, 35

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

species, then New Guinea with 15. A species lives in

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

and the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

, and a further three in the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

region, including endemic species in the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...

and

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

. In Asia two species are restricted to Indonesia and another is found in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and on mainland Asia. Most species are sedentary, except the gerygones. The family occupies a range of habitats from

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

s to arid regions.

Behaviour and ecology

Most species are terrestrial, feeding primarily on insects, although also eating some seeds. In particular the whitefaces consume large numbers of seeds, and other species will take fruits. The secretions of sap-sucking insects are favoured by some species, as are the insects themselves. Some species are less terrestrial, such as the weebill, which forages in the treetops, or the rock-dwelling

rockwarbler The rockwarbler (''Origma solitaria''), is a bird in the family Acanthizidae. It is the only bird species endemic to the state of New South Wales in Australia. Taxonomy and systematics English artist and naturalist John Lewin described the roc ...

. Rainforest species lay one to two eggs in a clutch, and species in the deserts and Tasmania lay three to four. Acanthizids are unusual for passerines in their long incubation periods, which rival those of large songbirds like the

Corvidae Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Currently, 13 ...

. Also, despite their long incubation period hatching is completely synchronous and within-brood mortality completely absent. Acanthizids are relatively long-lived, with many species living to over ten years of age in the wild and

cooperative breeding Cooperative breeding is a social system characterized by alloparental care: offspring receive care not only from their parents, but also from additional group members, often called helpers. Cooperative breeding encompasses a wide variety of group ...

is found in the weebill and with a lesser degree of development in all whitefaces and most species of ''Sericornis'' and ''Acanthiza''.Se
“Old endemics and new invaders: alternative strategies of passerines for living in the Australian environment”
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Status and conservation

Most taxa are considered as

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

. One species – the

Lord Howe gerygone The Lord Howe gerygone or Lord Howe gerygone flyeater (''Gerygone insularis'') was a small bird in the family (biology), family Acanthizidae, brown and greyish in color. Its head was brown apart from a pale grey eye-ring and a grey throat and ch ...

(''Gerygone insularis'') – became extinct by rat predation in the early 1930s. The Norfolk Island gerygone (''Gerygone modesta'') is vulnerable and the

chestnut-breasted whiteface The chestnut-breasted whiteface (''Aphelocephala pectoralis'') is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae The Acanthizidae—known as Australian warblers—are a family of passerine birds which includes gerygones, the thornbills ''Acant ...

(''Aphelocephala pectoralis'') is near threatened.

Gallery

File:Scrub wren for wiki.jpg,

White-browed scrubwren The white-browed scrubwren (''Sericornis frontalis'') is a passerine bird found on the New England Tablelands and coastal areas of Australia. Placed in the family Pardalotidae in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, this has met with opposition and in ...

(''Sericornis frontalis'') File:Large-billed gerygone portland08.JPG,

Large-billed gerygone The large-billed gerygone (''Gerygone magnirostris'') is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae found in northern Australia and New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's secon ...

(''Gerygone magnirostris'') File:Brown Gerygone lam08.jpg, Brown gerygone (''Gerygone mouki'') File:Smicrornis brevirostris.jpg, Weebill (''Smicrornis brevirostris'') File:Speckeld warbler.jpg,

Speckled warbler The speckled warbler (''Pyrrholaemus sagittatus'') is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae. It is endemic to eastern Australia. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. Taxonomy The speckled warbler was first described by English physi ...

(''Chthonicola sagittatus'') File:Hylacola cauta Wilpena Pound.JPG,

Shy heathwren The shy heathwren (''Hylacola cauta'') is a species of small bird in the family Acanthizidae, endemic to Australia. They inhabit mostly mallee woodland that has relatively dense shrub and heath understorey. Taxonomy Their taxonomic name was ...

(''Hylacola cauta'') File:Yellowthornbill.jpg,

Yellow thornbill The yellow thornbill (''Acanthiza nana''), formerly known as the little thornbill, is a tiny passerine bird endemic to the eastern coast of Australia. While currently listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, the general consensus is that the popul ...

(''Acanthiza nana'')