Sylviidae is a

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

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 th ...

birds that includes the typical warblers and a number of babblers formerly placed within the

Old World babbler The Old World babblers or Timaliidae are a family of mostly Old World passerine birds. They are rather diverse in size and coloration, but are characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in S ...

family. They are found in Eurasia and Africa.

Taxonomy and systematics

The scientific name Sylviidae was introduced by the English zoologist

William Elford Leach William Elford Leach FRS (2 February 1791 – 25 August 1836) was an English zoologist and marine biologist. Life and work Elford Leach was born at Hoe Gate, Plymouth, the son of an attorney. At the age of twelve he began a medical appren ...

(as Sylviadæ) in a guide to the contents of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

published in 1820. The family became part of an assemblage known as the

Old World warbler Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxonomic confusion. Two families were split out initially, the ci ...

s and was a

wastebin taxon Wastebasket taxon (also called a wastebin taxon, dustbin taxon or catch-all taxon) is a term used by some taxonomists to refer to a taxon that has the sole purpose of classifying organisms that do not fit anywhere else. They are typically define ...

with over 400 species of bird in over 70 genera. Advances in classification, particularly helped with molecular data, have led to the splitting out of several new families from within this group. There is now evidence that these ''Sylvia'' "warblers" are more closely related to the Old World babblers than the

warblers Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers T ...

and thus these birds are better referred to as Sylvia babblers, or just sylviids. 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 using mitochondrial DNA sequence data published in 2011 found that the species in the genus '' Sylvia'' formed two distinct clades. Based on these results, the ornithologists Edward Dickinson and

Leslie Christidis Leslie Christidis (born 30 May 1959), also simply known as Les Christidis, is an Australian ornithologist. His main research field is the evolution and systematics of birds. He has been director of Southern Cross University National Marine Science ...

in the fourth edition of '' Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World'', chose to split the genus and moved most of the species into a resurrected genus ''

Curruca ''Curruca'' is a genus of Sylviid warblers, best represented in Europe, Africa, and Asia. All of these species were formerly placed in the genus '' Sylvia''. Taxonomy The genus ''Curruca'' was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus ...

'', retaining only the Eurasian blackcap and the garden warbler in '' Sylvia''. They also moved the African hill babbler and Dohrn's thrush-babbler into ''Sylvia''. The split was not accepted by the

British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds (" ornithology") and around the world, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, ...

on the grounds that "a split into two genera would unnecessarily destabilize nomenclature and results in only a minor increase in phylogenetic information content."

List of species

The family includes 34 species divided into 2 genera: This list is presented according to the IOC taxonomic sequence and can also be sorted alphabetically by common name and binomial.

Description

Sylviids are small to medium-sized passerine 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.

Distribution and habitat

Most species occur in Asia, and to a lesser extent in Africa. A few range into Europe.

References

{{Authority control Bird families