About Perching Birds

The perching birds ("passerines") compose by far the largest order of birds on Earth. Also known as "Passeriformes" within the scientific community, the perching birds are found on every continent except Antarctica. Science has categorized 59 separate families of perching birds, which are made up of about 5,100 different species.

Perching

The perching birds are thought to be the smartest species of birds. All perching birds have one characteristic in common: Their feet have three toes that point forward and one that points backwards. This enables a perching bird to gain a foothold on anything suitable for a perch, such as a tree branch or telephone line. The tendons and muscles in a perching bird's legs keep the bird from falling backwards by maintaining a strong grip on the perch.

Features

The perching birds are divided into two subsets. The suboscines include approximately 1,000 species, most of which live in the tropics. South America is home to most of the world's suboscines, which sing songs they pick up instinctively. In contrast, the oscines--more commonly referred to as the songbirds--can learn a variety of songs and have a more developed voice box. The 4,000 varieties of oscines are found around the globe.

Behavior

Behaviors vary among the many perching birds, but they do have some behaviors in common. For instance, most perching birds construct nests out of small sticks and twigs, typically on the ground or in a tree. Both parents usually raise the brood. Many perching birds migrate from northern climates, where they nest, to warmer southern locales in the winter.

Types

The raven is the largest of the perching birds; the smallest species include warblers. Many birds that are familiar to the average individual are perching birds, including cardinals, robins, crows, swallows, vireos, thrushes, orioles, nuthatches, sparrows, starlings, wrens, mockingbirds, waxwings and titmice.

Expert Insight

The cedar waxwing is an example of a typical perching bird. It normally lives in flocks and subsists on berries and fruit as well as insects. The cedar waxwing heads to warmer places when the winter months approach, only to return north when the weather breaks to raise their young. Waxwings build their nests in the forks of tree branches and most often sit on their perches to devour their meals.