Vorstman's Guide to the Birds of Southern Africa

The tree works down layer by layer: from the main branches of the bird tree through ever smaller clades to orders, families and species. Every clade has a name — some familiar, some only coined in 2024. Where the genetic support is weak, it says so.

Collapse all

• Birds Aves

  1229 species

  • Ratites and tinamous Palaeognathae

    The oldest branch of modern birds, standing opposite all other birds together. In southern Africa represented by the ostrich. 1 species

    • Ostriches Struthioniformes 1 species
      Ostriches Struthionidae 1

  • Birds with a flexible palate Neognathae

    1228 species

    • Fowl Galloanserae

      With the gamebirds, the oldest branch of modern birds apart from the ratites. 45 species

      • Waterfowl Anseriformes 21 species
        Ducks and geese Anatidae 21
      • Gamebirds Galliformes 24 species
        Guineafowl Numididae 1Pheasants and partridges Phasianidae 23

    • All other modern birds Neoaves

      Nineteen out of twenty bird species belong here; the group fanned out rapidly after the mass extinction 66 million years ago. 1183 species

      • Flamingos and grebes Mirandornithes

        The first branch of Neoaves: two groups that look nothing alike yet are each other's closest relatives; in this guide represented only by the flamingos. 5 species

        • Flamingos Phoenicopteriformes 2 species
          Flamingos Phoenicopteridae 2
        • Grebes Podicipediformes 3 species
          Grebes Podicipedidae 3

      • Doves, turacos and allies Columbaves

        Doves and sandgrouse alongside bustards, turacos and cuckoos. 66 species

        • Bustards, turacos and cuckoos Otidimorphae

          The turacos stand opposite bustards and cuckoos together; the branches follow one another so closely that their order differs between studies. 45 species

          • Turacos Musophagiformes 10 species
            Turacos Musophagidae 10
          • Bustards Otidiformes 11 species
            Bustards and korhaans Otididae 11
          • Cuckoos Cuculiformes 24 species
            Cuckoos Cuculidae 24

        • Doves and sandgrouse Columbimorphae

          Sandgrouse of the dry plains alongside the pigeons and doves; two groups that are each other's closest relatives. 21 species

          • Sandgrouse Pterocliformes 4 species
            Sandgrouse Pteroclidae 4
          • Pigeons and doves Columbiformes 17 species
            Pigeons and doves Columbidae 17

      • Elementaves Elementaves

        Newly named in 2024, after birds that excel in earth, air, water and sun. Support for this branch is reasonable but not equally strong in every analysis. 284 species

        • Cranes and waders Gruimorphae

          Rails and cranes form one branch with all waders, gulls and terns — plus the hoatzin, the least certain position in the whole tree. 148 species

          • Cranes, rails and allies Gruiformes 25 species
            Cranes Gruidae 3Rails and crakes Rallidae 14Finfoots Heliornithidae 1Flufftails Sarothruridae 7
          • Waders, gulls and terns Charadriiformes 123 species
            Plovers and lapwings Charadriidae 22Stone-curlews Burhinidae 2Pratincoles and coursers Glareolidae 8Oystercatchers Haematopodidae 2Gulls and terns Laridae 36Avocets and stilts Recurvirostridae 2Painted-snipes Rostratulidae 1Sandpipers and snipes Scolopacidae 35Skuas Stercorariidae 6Buttonquails Turnicidae 3Sheathbills Chionidae 2Crab Plover Dromadidae 1Jacanas Jacanidae 2Egyptian Plover Pluvianidae 1

        • Phaethoquornithes Phaethoquornithes

          The waterside in its broadest sense: from tropicbirds far out at sea to herons in the reeds. 116 species

          • Phaethontimorphae Phaethontimorphae

            A small, ancient branch; the study could not rule out that it belongs elsewhere in the tree. 3 species

            • Tropicbirds Phaethontiformes 3 species
              Tropicbirds Phaethontidae 3

          • Core waterbirds Aequornithes

            Penguins, storks, cormorants and herons; with tropicbirds and sunbittern they form Phaethoquornithes. 113 species

            • Penguins Sphenisciformes 8 species
              Penguins Spheniscidae 8
            • Tubenoses Procellariiformes 53 species
              Albatrosses Diomedeidae 12Northern storm petrels Hydrobatidae 3Southern storm petrels Oceanitidae 5Petrels and shearwaters Procellariidae 33
            • Storks Ciconiiformes 8 species
              Storks Ciconiidae 8
            • Gannets and cormorants Suliformes 15 species
              Gannets and boobies Sulidae 5Cormorants Phalacrocoracidae 5Darters Anhingidae 1Frigatebirds Fregatidae 4
            • Pelicans, herons and ibises Pelecaniformes 29 species
              Hamerkop Scopidae 1Herons and bitterns Ardeidae 19Pelicans Pelecanidae 2Ibises and spoonbills Threskiornithidae 6Shoebill Balaenicipitidae 1

        • Strisores Strisores

          Aerial insect-eaters with a short bill and a huge gape. 20 species

          • Nightjars Caprimulgiformes 8 species
            Nightjars Caprimulgidae 8
          • Swifts Apodiformes 12 species
            Swifts Apodidae 12

      • Landbirds Telluraves

        The great branch of raptors, owls, woodpeckers, falcons and passerines. 828 species

        • Raptors, owls, kingfishers and woodpeckers Afroaves

          The branch where diurnal raptors and owls meet the colourful array of mousebirds, trogons, hornbills and woodpeckers. 176 species

          • Hawks and owls Hieraves

            Whether owls really are the sister group of the diurnal raptors is still contested: the genes are almost evenly split. 69 species

            • Owls Strigiformes 13 species
              Typical owls Strigidae 11Barn owls Tytonidae 2
            • Birds of prey Accipitriformes 56 species
              Secretarybird Sagittariidae 1Hawks, eagles and kites Accipitridae 54Ospreys Pandionidae 1

          • Mousebirds, rollers and woodpeckers Coraciimorphae

            The mousebirds, the only bird order confined to Africa, form the first branch; the rest is called Cavitaves. 107 species

            • Mousebirds Coliiformes 4 species
              Mousebirds Coliidae 4

            • Trogons and cavity nesters Cavitaves

              Nearly all birds of this branch nest in a cavity, in a tree or in a bank; the trogons branch off first. 103 species

              • Trogons Trogoniformes 2 species
                Trogons Trogonidae 2

              • Hornbills, kingfishers and woodpeckers Picocoraciae

                With hoopoes and hornbills branching off first; the rest is called Picodynastornithes. 101 species

                • Hoopoes and hornbills Bucerotiformes 20 species
                  Hornbills Bucerotidae 15Hoopoes Upupidae 1Wood-hoopoes and Scimitarbills Phoeniculidae 4

                • Kingfishers, bee-eaters and woodpeckers Picodynastornithes

                  Cavity nesters that excavate their own nest, in a bank or in wood. 81 species

                  • Kingfishers, bee-eaters and rollers Coraciiformes 32 species
                    Rollers Coraciidae 6Kingfishers Alcedinidae 15Bee-eaters Meropidae 11
                  • Woodpeckers and allies Piciformes 49 species
                    African barbets Lybiidae 26Woodpeckers Picidae 15Honeyguides Indicatoridae 8

        • Falcons, parrots and passerines Australaves

          The surprise of the modern tree: falcons belong here, not with the hawks. 652 species

          • Falcons and passerines Eufalconimorphae

            The falcons branch off first; parrots and passerines remain together as Psittacopasserae. 652 species

            • Falcons Falconiformes 16 species
              Falcons Falconidae 16

            • Parrots and passerines Psittacopasserae

              Two groups with each their own form of intelligence: learning to sing and learning to talk. 636 species

              • Parrots Psittaciformes 11 species
                Parrots Psittacidae 6Old World parakeets Psittaculidae 5
              • Passerines Passeriformes 625 species
                Sugarbirds Promeropidae 2Sunbirds Nectariniidae 44Weavers Ploceidae 51Rockjumpers Chaetopidae 2Bushshrikes Malaconotidae 23Chats and flycatchers Muscicapidae 68Reed warblers Acrocephalidae 12Larks Alaudidae 30Cisticolas Cisticolidae 69Crows and jays Corvidae 4Buntings Emberizidae 5Waxbills Estrildidae 41Finches Fringillidae 21Swallows and martins Hirundinidae 25Shrikes Laniidae 9Laughingthrushes Leiothrichidae 5Grasshopper warblers Locustellidae 8Wagtails and pipits Motacillidae 28Orioles Oriolidae 6Tits Paridae 8Sparrows Passeridae 6Leaf warblers Phylloscopidae 4Bulbuls Pycnonotidae 31Penduline tits Remizidae 2Starlings Sturnidae 20Sylvia warblers Sylviidae 8Thrushes Turdidae 10Indigobirds and whydahs Viduidae 9Oxpeckers Buphagidae 2African and Green Broadbills Calyptomenidae 1Cuckooshrikes Campephagidae 5Drongos Dicruridae 4Yellow Flycatchers Erythrocercidae 1Hylias Hyliidae 2Hyliotas Hyliotidae 2African Warblers Macrosphenidae 13Dapple-throat and allies Modulatricidae 2Monarch flycatchers Monarchidae 6Nicators Nicatoridae 3Ground babblers Pellorneidae 3Pittas Pittidae 1Batises and wattle-eyes Platysteiridae 14Spotted creepers Salpornithidae 1Fairy flycatchers Stenostiridae 4Vangas and helmetshrikes Vangidae 6White-eyes Zosteropidae 4

Source of the arrangement: The arrangement and sequence of orders, families, genera and species follow AviList; the clades above them follow the family-level genome tree of the B10K project and carry names from the PhyloCode. AviList v2025b · Stiller et al. 2024, Nature 629, 851-860 (B10K)

See all species →