Nine-primaried oscine


The nine-primaried oscines is a group of bird families in the suborder Passeri of the Passeriformes. The composition of the group has changed since the term was introduced but is now considered to consist of seven major families—Fringillidae, Emberizidae, Cardinalidae, Thraupidae, Passerellidae, Parulidae and Icteridae—plus some small families. When Fringillidae is omitted the remaining six families are referred to as the "New World" nine-primaried oscines.
The name of this group arises from the fact that all species within it have only nine easily visible primary feathers on each wing.

Wallace's classification

In 1874 the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace classified the passerines by the number of primary feathers and placed ten families in his nine-primaried group, the Tanagroid Passeres:

Modern grouping

Six of Wallace's families are now included in the nine-primaried oscines: Mniotiltidae, Coerebidae, Drepanidae, Tanagridae, Fringillidae and Icteridae. The other four families are now known to be less closely related.
Although the New World nine-primaried oscines are most diverse in northern South America, they are widespread throughout the New World including the Greater and Lesser Antilles. They have also colonised the Galápagos and the Tristan da Cunha group in the South Atlantic. Two families, the Emberizidae and the Calcariidae, have colonised the Old World.
The group without the Fringillidae, the New World nine-primaried oscines, is the superfamily Emberizoidea. The superfamily comprises some 870 species or 8% of all birds. It is divided into 16 families: