songbird: Quick Facts

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The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Oct. 22, 2026

Facts

Also Known As	oscine • Oscines • passerine • Passeri

Photos and Videos

Eurasian nightingale (Erithacus megarhynchos)

Large communal nest of the social weaver bird, Philetairus socius, built in a tree with many entrance holes visible among dense, brown grass woven around bare branches.

Orange-billed nightingale thrush (Catharus aurantiirostris)

Streaky seedeater (Serinus striolatus)

basic body feather tracts on a generalized songbird

Map of North and South America highlighting regions where passerine (songbird) species have small geographic ranges. Colored zones indicate the number of such species per area: blue for 1, green for 2 to 5, yellow for 6 to 10, red for 11 to 15, and black for 16 to 500. Concentrated areas appear in parts of Central America, the Caribbean, the Andes, and select coastal and mountainous regions.

The video thumbnail image shows a brown-speckled bird perched on a branch, singing with an open beak.

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pigeon. pigeon and dove. member of the order Columbiformes, family Columbidae

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Lion (panthera leo)

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