Telluraves

Telluraves, also called land birds, are a group of birds that live in trees. Scientists recently grouped them using new genetic studies. This group includes many kinds of birds, such as songbirds, parrots, falcons, eagles, hawks, owls, and woodpeckers. In 2022, George Sangster and others described this group using a rule called PhyloCode. They defined it by including two bird species: the sparrowhawk and the house sparrow. Telluraves are closely related to another bird group called Phaethoquornithes.

The oldest members of two bird groups in Telluraves—Afroaves (eagles, owls) and Australaves (seriemas, falcons)—are hunters. This led some scientists to think the first Telluraves were also hunters. Others disagree, pointing to a plant-eating bird called Strigogyps.

Not all studies agree that Afroaves is one single group. In 2015, Prum and others showed a different family tree, placing hawks and vultures outside a group they called Eutelluraves. Another study in 2019, led by Houde, grouped owls with hawks and vultures as a separate branch. In 2024, Wu and colleagues supported this idea and named this branch Hieraves. They also said Australaves are closest to Hieraves, while a group called Coraciimorphae is the oldest branch of Telluraves.

The cladogram of Telluraves here comes from a 2024 study by Josefin Stiller and others. They used a bird species list updated in December 2023 by Frank Gill, Pamela Rasmussen, and David Donsker for the International Ornithological Committee. This list includes New World vultures as part of the hawk group.

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Category:Birds