Neornithes

Neornithes includes all extant birds.  The earliest divergence within Neornithes is between Paleognathae (ratites and tinamous) and Neognathae which includes the two primary taxa Galloanserae and Neoaves (see Groth and Barrowclough 1999, Garcia-Moreno et al. 2003, Cracraft et al. 2004, Edwards et al. 2005)

See references list below for more publications on avian systematics.

Introduction

Extant birds include about 9000 recognized species, with representatives inhabiting all the major biogeographic regions of the world. Examples of bird groups and their native locales include: loons, auks and buntings in the Holarctic; rheas, motmots and toucans in the Neotropics; ostriches, guineafowl and woodhoopoes in Africa south of the Sahara; pheasants, pittas and babblers in Southeast Asia and northern Indonesia; and emus, cockatoos and owlet-frogmouths from Australia and New Guinea.

Whether modern birds are most closely related to dinosaurs or crocodylian ancestors is a point of current debate. The orders of extant birds appear to have arisen close to each other in time, although their age is uncertain, having been estimated to be about 60 million years old or over 90 million years old based on morphology and fossils (see Feduccia, 1996) and molecular data (Sibley and Ahlquist, 1990; Hedges et al., 1996), respectively.

Characteristics

Birds are unique in having feathers, which enable flight, provide insulation, and are used in visual communication. Modified feathers aid in swimming, sound production, protection via camouflage, water repellence, water transport, tactile sensation, hearing, and support of the body (Stettenheim, 1976). Birds are also warm-blooded, have distinctive bills, produce external eggs, and demonstrate complex parental and reproductive behaviors. Features shared with other reptiles, but not with mammals, include nucleated red blood cells, a single middle ear bone, and a single occipital condyle on the back of the skull. Adaptations for flight include fusion and reinforcement of lightweight bones and presence of a keeled sternum, which supports flight muscles. Birds have highly developed color vision, use vocalizations to mediate social interactions, and are able to detect and react to magnetism (see Gill, 1990).

Classification

Classifications of birds following the traditional sequence of orders beginning, approximately, with Struthioniformes (ratites), Procellariformes (albatrosses, petrels), Sphenisciformes (penguins), and Gaviiformes (loons), and ending with Piciformes (woodpeckers) and Passeriformes (perching birds), as found in most field guides and checklists (e.g. Peters 1931-1951), are weakly connected to phylogenetic hypotheses, and tell as much about the history of ornithology as about the history of birds. A recent and revised classification of modern birds (Sibley and Monroe, 1990) reflects phylogenetic hypotheses, with sister groups being assigned coordinate ranks (following Hennig, 1966). However, while the approach is modern, this particular implementation rests on the problematic assumption that melting temperatures for hybridized DNA fragments from pairs of species can be extrapolated to accurately reflect divergence times.

Other Names for Neornithes

• Modern Birds

References

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Christidis, L. and W. Boles. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.

Chubb, A. L. 2004. New nuclear evidence for the oldest divergence among neognath birds: the phylogenetic utility of ZENK. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 30:140-151.

Cooper, A. and D. Penny. 1997. Mass survival of birds across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary: Molecular evidence. Science 275:1109-1113.

Cracraft, J. 1981. Toward a phylogenetic classification of birds of the world (class Aves). Auk 98: 681-714.

Cracraft, J. 1988. The major clades of birds. In The Phylogeny and Classification of the Tetrapods. (M. J. Benton, ed.), Systematics Assoc. Special Vol. No. 35A, pp. 333-355. Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Cracraft, J. 2001. Avian evolution, Gondwana biogeography and the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction event. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. 268B:459-469.

Cracraft, J. and J. Clarke. 2001. The basal clades of modern birds. Pp. 143-156 in New perspectives on the origin and early evolution of birds (J. Gauthier and L. F. Gall, eds.). Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT.

Cracraft, J., F. Keith Barker, M. J. Braun, J. Harshman, G. Dyke, J. Feinstein, S. Stanley, A. Cibois, P. Schikler, P. Beresford, J. García-Moreno, M. D. Sorenson, T. Yuri, and D. P. Mindell. 2004. Phylogenetic Relationships Among Modern Birds (Neornithes): Toward an Avian Tree of Life. Pp 468-489 in Cracraft, J. and M. J. Donoghue (eds.), Assembling the Tree of Life. Oxford University Press, New York.

Cracraft, J., and D. P. Mindell. 1989. The early history of modern birds: a comparison of molecular and morphological evidence. In The Hierarchy of Life. (B. Fernholm, K. Bremer and H. Jörnvall, eds.), Proc. of Nobel Symposia, pp. 389-403. Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam.

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Information on the Internet

Birds of the World

• BirdLife International
• ORNIS. ORNithological Information System provides access to bird specimen and observational records in natural history collections.
• Avibase. An extensive database information system about all birds of the world.
• Birds of the World: Recommended English Names. Supplements the book by Frank Gill And Minturn Wright.
• Animal Diversity Web: Aves. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.
• BIRDNET. Information about the scientific study of birds from the Ornithological Council.
• SORA: Searchable Ornithological Research Archive. The University of New Mexico.
• Bird Families of the World. Don Roberson.
• David Attenborough's The Life of Birds (PBS)
• Birdix.com: Birds of the World
• Birding Hotspots Around the World
• BIRDFORUM.net
• The Multilingual Birdsearch Engine

North America

• American Ornithologists' Union
• Integrated Bird Conservation in the United States. U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI)
• American Birding Association
• National Audubon Society
• Bird Studies Canada
• Birding In Canada
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Bird Division.
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
• All About Birds. Multimedia bird guide and a wealth of information about feeding, attracting, and watching birds. Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
  • Online Bird Guide. Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
• eBird. Database and tools to keep track of the birds you see anywhere in North America. Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
• Project FeederWatch. An annual survey of birds that visit feeders in winter. Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
• BirdSource. A partnership between citizens and scientists. National Audubon Society & Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
• Birds, Birds, Birds. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Central and South America

• Neotropical Bird Club
• Belize Audubon Society
• Panama Audubon Society
• Xenornis: the latest sightings of rare birds in Panama
• Asociación Colombiana de Ornitología
• Birds in Suriname, South America
• Aves Argentinas - Asociación Ornitológica del Plata
• Asociación Guyra Paraguay
• Aves Uruguay
• A classification of the bird species of South America. South American Classification Committee, American Ornithologists' Union.

Australia, New Guninea, and Pacific Ocean Islands

• Birds Australia
• Australian Bird Study Association
• Bird Observers Club of Australia
• Australian Museum Ornithology.
  • Australian bird list
• Ornithological Society of New Zealand
• Société Calédonienne d'Ornithologie
• Société d'Ornithologie de Polynésie (MANU)
• Burung Indonesia

Asia and Middle East

• Oriental Bird Club
• 財団法人 日本野鳥の会. Wild Bird Society of Japan (WBSJ)
• Hong Kong Bird Watching Society
• 中華民國野鳥學會. Wild Bird Federation Taiwan (WBFT)
• BirdLife International in Indochina. Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam
• สมาคมอนุรักษ์นกและธรรมชาติแห่งประเทศไทย. Bird Conservation Society of Thailand
• Ornithological Society of the Middle East, the Caucasus and central Asia
• Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN)
• Glossary of Bird Species in Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese

Europe

• SEO/BirdLife (Sociedad Española de Ornitología). Spain
• Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves (SPEA). Portugal
• Lega Italiana Protezione Uccelli (LIPU). Italy
• BirdLife Malta
• Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux (LPO). France
• The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). UK
• British Trust for Ornithology. UK
• BirdWatch Ireland (BWI)
• BirdGuides. British and Irish birds.
• Fuglaverndarfélag Íslands. Iceland
• Dansk Ornitologisk Forening. Denmark
• Norsk Ornitologisk Forening (NOF). Norway
• Sveriges Ornitologiska Förening (SOF). Sweden
• BirdLife Suomi. Finland
• Vogelbescherming Nederland. Netherlands
• Dutch Birding Association
• Birdnet.de. Germany
• Schweizer Vogelschutz SVS/BirdLife Schweiz. Switzerland
• BirdLife Österreich. Austria
• Česká společnost ornitologická (ČSO). Czech Society for Ornithology
• Ogólnopolskie Towarzystwo Ochrony Ptaków (OTOP). Poland
• Magyar Madártani és Természetvédelmi Egyesület (MME). Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society.
• BirdLife Slovenia–Društvo za opazovanje in proučevanje ptic Slovenije (DOPPS)
• Slovenská ornitologická spoločnosť/BirdLife Slovensko. Slovakia
• Eesti Ornitoloogiaühingu (EOÜ). Estonian Ornithological Society
• Latvijas Ornitoloģijas biedrības mājas lapa (LOB). Latvian Ornithological Society.
• Lietuvos Ornitologų Draugija (LOD). Lithuanian Ornithological Society.
• Українське товариство охорони птахів. Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Birds (USPB)
• Societatea Ornitologica Romana. Romania
• Българското дружество за защита на птиците (БДЗП). Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds
• Ελληνική Ορνιθολογική Εταιρεία (ΕΟΕ). Hellenic Ornithological Society, Greece
• BirdLife Cyprus
• Russian Bird Conservation Union

Africa and East Indian Ocean Islands

• African Bird Club
• Zambian Ornithological Society
• Birdlife Botswana
• BirdLife South Africa
• Birds of Mauritius

Media Collections

• VIREO: Visual Resources for Ornithology. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.
• The Internet Bird Collection (IBC). An on-line audiovisual library of footage of the world's birds.
• Field Guide: Birds of the World. Flickr group.
• Arthur Grosset's Birds. Mostly South American, European and Australian birds.
• Birds of Kolkata. Indian birds.
• xeno-canto :: bird songs from tropical america
• Zoological Museum Amsterdam Bird Collection. Bird type specimens in 3D.