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.

Telluraves Temporal range: Paleocene - Holocene,
File:Red-tailed hawk (44371).jpg
Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
File:Erithacus rubecula with cocked head.jpg
European robin, Erithacus rubecula
Scientific classification e
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Neoaves
Clade:	Passerea
Clade:	Telluraves Yuri et al., 2013
Clades
Accipitrimorphae Strigiformes Coraciimorphae Australaves

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.

Telluraves

Afroaves Hieraves Strigiformes (owls – 254 species) Accipitrimorphae Cathartiformes (New World vultures – 7 species) Accipitriformes (hawks, osprey and secretarybird – 258 species) Coraciimorphae Coliiformes (mousebirds – 6 species) Cavitaves Leptosomiformes (cuckoo roller – 1 species) Eucavitaves Trogoniformes (trogons and quetzals – 46 species) Picocoraciae Bucerotiformes (hornbills and relatives – 77 species) Picodynastornithes Coraciiformes (kingfishers and relatives – 186 species) Piciformes (woodpeckers and relatives – 448 species) Australaves Cariamiformes (seriemas – 2 species) Eufalconimorphae Falconiformes (falcons – 65 species) Psittacopasseres Psittaciformes (parrots – 408 species) Passeriformes (passerines – 6,719 species)