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NON-PASSERINES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 PASSERINES

Passerines vs. non-passerines

Explanation of the difference between the two orders

As shown in the second-tier header above, bird species are generally subdivided into "passerines" and "non-passerines". What is the difference between the two?

The answer is quite straight-forward, once one knows the Latin name of the common House Sparrow - "Passer domesticus". Passerines are birds that, like the House Sparrow, have three toes forward, one backward, e.g. when sitting on a perch, non-passerines don't. As a rule of thumb, songbirds are passerines, others are not.

But there are some more subtle rules to this. There is also a distinction by the birds' voice boxes (their "syrinyxes"). There are a number of birds that have a passerine foothold, but a more primitive syrinyx than the true songbirds. These are often called "suboscines" (where true passerines are "oscines") or also "semi-passerines". The only examples of this category in Australia are the Pittas.

Passerines

Non-passerines

Example passerine: Brown Honeyeater Example non-passerine: Australian Bustard
Example passerine foothold: Pied Currawong
- three toes forward, one backward
Example non-passerine foothold: Budgerigar
- two toes forward, two backward

These pages are largely based on our own observations. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.