Certhioidea

Eurasian nuthatch Sitta europaea, photographed by Paweł Kuźniar.

Belongs within: Muscicapoidea.
Contains: Troglodytidae.

The Certhioidea is a clade of passerine birds supported by molecular analyses, uniting the families Certhiidae, Sittidae and Troglodytidae. Certhioids are small, mostly dull-coloured birds that generally feed by gleaning insects off vegetation, though Sittidae also eat seeds.

<==Certhioidea
    |--+--+--Troglodytidae BB05
    |  |  `--Palaeoscinis [Palaeoscinidae] FP64
    |  |       `--P. turdirostris FP64
    |  `--Polioptilinae B94
    |       |--Ramphocaenus Vieillot 1819 [Ramphocaeninae] B94
    |       |--Microbates A61
    |       `--Polioptila Sclater 1855 BC04, B94
    |            |  i. s.: P. buffoni SS66
    |            |         P. leucogastra SS66
    |            |         P. plumbea [incl. Culicivora atricapilla] B94
    |            |--*P. caerulea (Linné 1766) B94, JF06, B94 [=Motacilla caerulea B94]
    |            `--+--P. albiloris JF06
    |               `--+--P. nigriceps JF06
    |                  `--+--P. californica JF06
    |                     `--P. melanura JF06
    `--+--Certhiidae BB05
       |    |--Salpornis Gray 1847 [Salpornithinae] B94
       |    |    `--S. spilonotus A61
       |    `--Certhia Linnaeus 1758 [Certhiinae] M02
       |         |--C. americana FP64
       |         |--C. brachydactyla HK02
       |         `--C. familiaris Linnaeus 1758 M02
       `--Sittidae BB05
            |--Tichodroma Illiger 1811 [Tichodromidae, Tichodrominae] B94
            |    `--T. muraria FP64
            `--Sitta Linnaeus 1758 [Sittinae] M02
                 |  i. s.: S. magna Ramsay 1876 S89
                 |         S. neglecta Walden 1870 S89
                 |         S. senogalliensis Portis 1887 M02
                 |--+--S. europaea Linnaeus 1758 JF06, M02
                 |  `--+--S. carolinensis JF06
                 |     `--S. himalayensis JF06
                 `--+--S. frontalis JF06
                    `--+--S. pygmaea JF06
                       `--+--+--S. krueperi JF06
                          |  `--S. ledanti JF06
                          `--+--S. canadensis JF06
                             `--+--S. villosa JF06
                                `--S. whiteheadi JF06

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A61] Austin, O. L., Jr. 1961. Birds of the World: A survey of the twenty-seven orders and one hundred and fifty-five families. Paul Hamlyn: London.

[BC04] Barker, F. K., A. Cibois, P. Schikler, J. Feinstein & J. Cracraft. 2004. Phylogeny and diversification of the largest avian radiation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 101 (30): 11040-11045.

[BB05] Beresford, P., F. K. Barker, P. G. Ryan & T. M. Crowe. 2005. African endemics span the tree of songbirds (Passeri): Molecular systematics of several evolutionary ‘enigmas’. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B – Biological Sciences 272: 849-858.

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1-281.

[FP64] Fisher, J., & R. T. Peterson. 1964. The World of Birds: A comprehensive guide to general ornithology. Macdonald: London.

[HK02] Helbig, A. J., A. G. Knox, D. T. Parkin, G. Sangster & M. Collinson. 2002. Guidelines for assigning species rank. Ibis 144: 518-525.

[JF06] Jønsson, K. A., & J. Fjeldså. 2006. A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds. Zoologica Scripta 35: 149-186.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[S89] Salvadori, T. 1889. Viaggio di Leonardo Fea nella Birmania e nelle regioni vicine. XIX. – Uccelli raccolti nei Monti Carin a nord-est di Tounghoo, nel Pegù presso Rangoon e Tounghoo e nel Tenasserim presso Malewoon. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie 2a 7: 369-438.

[SS66] Sclater, P. L., & O. Salvin. 1866. Catalogue of birds collected by Mr. E. Bartlett on the River Uyacali, Eastern Peru, with notes and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 175-201.