Birds are a diverse group of vertebrate animals that have feathers, wings, beaks, and lay hard-shelled eggs. There are around 10,000 known species of birds alive today. Birds are found worldwide and in all types of environments, from deserts to rainforests to the Arctic. Birds are an important part of many ecosystems and provide benefits such as pollinating plants, dispersing seeds, and controlling pests.
Scientists classify birds into different groups based on their evolutionary relationships and shared characteristics. The classification helps organize the diversity of birds and understand how different species are related. Below is an outline of the classification order for birds from the broadest category down to the most specific:
Kingdom
The broadest classification level is kingdom. Birds belong to the kingdom Animalia, which includes all animals. The Animalia kingdom is often divided into smaller groups including vertebrates (animals with backbones) and invertebrates (animals without backbones). Birds are vertebrates.
Phylum
The next level down is phylum. Birds belong to the phylum Chordata. Chordata includes all vertebrate animals. Some key features of chordates are a nerve cord running along the back, a notochord (rod of cartilage) providing structure, and pharyngeal slits or clefts in the pharynx behind the mouth. Birds have all these chordate features.
Class
The class for birds is Aves. The Aves class contains all birds, both living and extinct. Some distinctive features of the Aves class include feathers, wings, lays hard-shelled eggs, and a four-chambered heart. There are believed to be around 10,000 living species in the Aves class.
Order
The Aves class is divided into orders. An order is a category ranking below class which contains one or more families. There are approximately 40 orders recognized within the class Aves today. Some examples of bird orders are:
- Passeriformes – perching birds such as songbirds, crows
- Psittaciformes – parrots
- Falconiformes – diurnal birds of prey like falcons, eagles
- Galliformes – landfowl like chickens, turkeys, quail
- Anseriformes – waterfowl including ducks and geese
- Strigiformes – owls
- Charadriiformes – shorebirds, gulls, alcids
- Columbiformes – doves and pigeons
The orders group together birds with similar physical traits and evolutionary history. However, the relationships between bird orders are constantly being studied and revised as new information comes to light.
Family
Within each order there are multiple families. A family is a group of closely related genera and species. For example, within the order Passeriformes (perching birds) there are families such as:
- Corvidae – crows, ravens, jays
- Fringillidae – finches
- Sturnidae – starlings
- Turdidae – thrushes
- Sylviidae – warblers
The families further divide the orders into birds with shared attributes and ancestry. There are around 220 recognized families of birds. However, the taxonomic classification is constantly being studied and revised as new information becomes available.
Genus
The genus level comes next in the classification hierarchy for birds. A genus (plural: genera) contains one or more closely related species. For example, the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae includes crows, ravens, and jays. Some other bird genera examples include:
- Anas – dabbling ducks (family Anatidae)
- Turdus – thrushes (family Turdidae)
- Cardinalis – cardinals (family Cardinalidae)
- Sturnus – starlings (family Sturnidae)
Assigning a species to the correct genus indicates its evolutionary relationships with other similar species. There are approximately 2,500 genera within avian taxonomy.
Species
The most specific level of the classification is species. A species is a group of birds that breed with each other in nature and produce fertile offspring. There is only one living species in a genus. For example:
- The genus Corvus includes the species Corvus corax (common raven)
- The genus Anas includes the species Anas platyrhynchos (mallard duck)
There are believed to be approximately 10,000 living species of birds worldwide. Species names are designated using a two-word Latin name consisting of the genus followed by specific epithet. Scientific naming helps avoid confusion between very similar species across regions and languages.
Naming Convention
To summarize, the proper way to write out the full scientific name of a bird species using taxonomy nomenclature is:
Genus species
For example, the black-capped chickadee would be written as:
Poecile atricapillus
The taxonomic classification provides a systematic way to name and group all the diversity of birds on Earth. As new discoveries are made, there may be changes and updates to the existing taxonomy. However, this ordered system allows ornithologists across the world to study and communicate effectively about avian species.
Conclusion
The classification order for birds from broadest to most specific is:
- Kingdom – Animalia
- Phylum – Chordata
- Class – Aves
- Order – Example: Passeriformes
- Family – Example: Corvidae
- Genus – Example: Corvus
- Species – Example: Corvus corax (common raven)
This organized taxonomy system allows scientists to understand the evolutionary relationships between the approximately 10,000 living bird species. As new information arises, updates may be made to the classification order to best reflect the avian family tree.