Several unrelated groups of

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 500 ...

s are called catbirds because of their wailing calls, which resemble a

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

meow A meow or miaow is a cat vocalization. ''Meows'' may have diverse tones and are sometimes chattered, murmured or whispered. Adult cats rarely meow to each other, so an adult cat meowing to human beings is probably a post-domestication extens ...

ing. The

genus name Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

''Ailuroedus'' likewise is from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

for "cat-singer" or "cat-voiced".

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

n catbirds are the

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

Ailuroedus ''Ailuroedus'' is a genus of birds in the bowerbird family, Ptilonorhynchidae, native to forests in Australia and New Guinea. The common name, catbird, refers to these species' "wailing cat-like calls". The scientific name ''Ailuroedus'' is der ...

'' and the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

Scenopooetes The tooth-billed bowerbird (''Scenopoeetes dentirostris''), also known as the stagemaker bowerbird or tooth-billed catbird, is a medium-sized (approximately long) bowerbird. It is a stocky olive-brown bird with brown-streaked buffish white under ...

''. They belong to the

bowerbird Bowerbirds () make up the bird family Ptilonorhynchidae. They are renowned for their unique courtship behaviour, where males build a structure and decorate it with sticks and brightly coloured objects in an attempt to attract a mate. The family ...

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 ...

(Ptilonorhynchidae) of the basal songbirds: * Ochre-breasted catbird (''Ailuroedus stonii'') *

White-eared catbird The white-eared catbird (''Ailuroedus buccoides'') is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae found on New Guinea and the West Papuan Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical mois ...

(''Ailuroedus buccoides'') * Tan-capped catbird (''Ailuroedus geislerorum'') *

Green catbird The green catbird (''Ailuroedus crassirostris'') is a species of bowerbird found in subtropical forests along the east coast of Australia, from southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales. It is named after its distinctive call which soun ...

(''Ailuroedus crassirostris'') *

Spotted catbird The spotted catbird (''Ailuroedus maculosus'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in north Queensland, the eastern Moluccas and New Guinea.Higgins, P.J., Peter, J.M. and Cowling, S.J. 2006. Handbook of Australian, Ne ...

(''Ailuroedus melanotis'') *

Huon catbird The Huon catbird (''Ailuroedus astigmaticus'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in northeastern New Guinea. This species was formerly considered a subspecies of the spotted catbird before being reclassified as a di ...

(''Ailuroedus astigmaticus'') *

Black-eared catbird The black-eared catbird (''Ailuroedus melanotis'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found northern Queensland and New Guinea, including its surrounding islands. They are named after their cat-like wails and black ear ...

(''Ailuroedus melanotis'') *

Arfak catbird The Arfak catbird (''Ailuroedus arfakianus'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in the Bird's Head Peninsula, Bird's Head (Vogelkop) Peninsula in western New Guinea. This species was formerly considered a subspecie ...

(''Ailuroedus arfakianus'') *

Northern catbird The Northern catbird (''Ailuroedus jobiensis'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in central-northern New Guinea. This species was formerly considered a subspecies of the spotted catbird before being reclassified a ...

(''Ailuroedus jobiensis'')

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

catbirds are two monotypic genera from the

mimid __NOTOC__ The mimids are the New World family of passerine birds, Mimidae, that includes thrashers, mockingbirds, tremblers, and the New World catbirds. As their name (Latin for "mimic") suggests, these birds are notable for their vocalization, ...

family (Mimidae) of the

passerida Passerida is, under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two parvorders contained within the suborder Passeri (standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder). While more recent research suggests that its sister parvorder ...

n superfamily Muscicapoidea. Among the Mimidae, they represent independent basal lineages probably closer to the Caribbean thrasher and trembler assemblage than to the

mockingbird Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the family Mimidae. They are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession. ...

s and ''

Toxostoma ''Toxostoma'' is a genus of bird in the family Mimidae. This genus contains most of the birds called thrashers, and accordingly members of this genus are sometimes referred to as the "typical thrashers". Description They measure 22 to 32 cm long ...

'' thrashers: *

Gray catbird The gray catbird (''Dumetella carolinensis''), also spelled grey catbird, is a medium-sized North American and Central American perching bird of the mimid family. It is the only member of the "catbird" genus ''Dumetella''. Like the black catbir ...

, ''Dumetella carolinensis'' *

Black catbird The black catbird (''Melanoptila glabrirostris'') is a songbird species in the monotypic genus ''Melanoptila'', part of the family Mimidae. At in length and in mass, it is the smallest of the mimids. Sexes appear similar, with glossy black pl ...

, ''Melanoptila glabrirostris'' The

Abyssinian catbird The Abyssinian catbird or juniper babbler (''Sylvia galinieri'') is a species of bird in the family Sylviidae. (It is unrelated to other birds with the common name catbird). It is Endemism, endemic to Ethiopia where it is found in highland forest ...

(''Sylvia galinieri'') is found in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. It was previously considered represents a monotypic genus ''Parophasma''. GrrlScientist. (2011, June 21). Mystery bird: ETHIOPIAN CATBIRD, Parophasma galinieri. Retrieved March 5, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jun/22/1

Footnotes

References

* Barber, Brian R.; Martínez-Gómez, Juan E. & Peterson, A. Townsend (2004): Systematic position of the Socorro mockingbird ''Mimodes graysoni''. '' J. Avian Biol.'' 35: 195–198. PDF fulltext
* Hunt, Jeffrey S.; Bermingham, Eldredge; & Ricklefs, Robert E. (2001): Molecular systematics and biogeography of Antillean thrashers, tremblers, and mockingbirds (Aves: Mimidae). ''

Auk An auk or alcid is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'', from Old Norse ''alka'' (a ...

'' 118(1): 35–55. DOI:10.1642/0004-8038(2001)118 035:MSABOA.0.CO;2PDF fulltext
* Rowland, Peter (2008): ''Bowerbirds''. CSIRO Publishing. {{ISBN, 0-643-09420-2Excerpt
at

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