Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 6, 2026

Corvides

Corvides is a clade of birds in the order of Passeriformes. Previously referred to as the core Corvoidea, the evolutionary history and biogeography, behavior and eco-morphology of Corvides has been extensively studied. Corvides appear to represent an island radiation, which colonized all continents except Antarctica.

Last revised
Jun 6, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
499 w
Citations
15
Source
Corvides
King bird-of-paradise (Cicinnurus regius)
Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Suborder: Passeri
Infraorder: Corvides
Clades

Cinclosomatidae
Campephagidae
Mohouidae
Neosittidae
Corvoidea
Malaconotoidea
Orioloidea

Corvides is a clade of birds in the order of Passeriformes.1 Previously referred to as the core Corvoidea,2 the evolutionary history and biogeography, behavior and eco-morphology of Corvides has been extensively studied.3245678910 Corvides appear to represent an island radiation, which colonized all continents except Antarctica.11

Systematics

Corvides contains the following families:12213

References

References

  1. McCullough, J.M. et al. (2022) Wallacean and Melanesian Islands Promote Higher Rates of Diversification within the Global Passerine radiation Corvides. Systematic Biology, syac044, https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syac044
  2. Jønsson K.A., Fabre P.-H., Kennedy J.D., Holt B.G., Borregaard M.K., Rahbek C., Fjeldså J. (2016) A supermatrix phylogeny of corvoid passerine birds (Aves: Corvides). Mol.Phylogenet. Evol. 94:87–94.
  3. Jønsson K.A., Fabre P.-H., Ricklefs R.E., Fjeldså J. 2011. Major global radiation of corvoid birds originated in the proto-Papuan archipelago. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 108:2328–2333.
  4. Jønsson K.A., Borregaard M.K., Carstensen D.W., Hansen L.A., Kennedy J.D., Machac A., Marki P.Z., Fjeldså J., Rahbek C. (2017) Biogeography and Biotic Assembly of Indo-Pacific Corvoid Passerine Birds. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 48:231–253.
  5. Marki P.Z., Fabre P.-H., Jønsson K.A., Rahbek C., Fjeldså J., Kennedy J.D. (2015) Breeding system evolution influenced the geographic expansion and diversification of the core Corvoidea (Aves: Passeriformes). Evolution. 69:1874–1924.
  6. Kennedy J.D., Borregaard M.K., Jønsson K.A., Holt B., Fjeldså J., Rahbek C. (2017) Does the colonization of new biogeographic regions influence the diversification and accumulation of clade richness among the Corvides (Aves: Passeriformes)? Evolution. 71:38–50.
  7. Kennedy J.D., Borregaard M.K., Jønsson K.A., Marki P.Z., Fjeldså J., Rahbek C. (2016) The influence of wing morphology upon the dispersal, geographical distributions and diversification of the Corvides (Aves; Passeriformes). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 283:20161922.
  8. Kennedy J.D., Borregaard M.K., Marki P.Z., Machac A., Fjeldså J., Rahbek C. (2018) Expansion in geographical and morphological space drives continued lineage diversification in a global passerine radiation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
  9. Kennedy J.D., Marki P.Z., Fjeldså J., Rahbek C. (2020) The association between morphological and ecological characters across a global passerine radiation. J. Anim. Ecol. 89:1094–1108.
  10. Kennedy J.D., Marki P.Z., Fjeldså J., Rahbek C. (2021) Peripheral eco‐morphology predicts restricted lineage diversification and endemism among corvoid passerine birds. Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 30:79–98.
  11. Aggerbeck, M., Fjeldså, J., Christidis, L., Fabre, P.-H., Jønsson, K.A., (2014) Resolving deep lineage divergences in core corvoid passerine birds supports a proto407 Papuan island origin. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 70, 272–285.
  12. Gill, F., M. Wright, & D. Donsker. (2010) IOC World Bird Names, version 2.7.
  13. Oliveros, C.H.; et al. (2019). "Earth history and the passerine superradiation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. 116 (16): 7916–7925. Bibcode:2019PNAS..116.7916O. doi:10.1073/pnas.1813206116. PMC 6475423. PMID 30936315.