Order Passeriformes is the largest order of birds in the Class Aves. It contains over 140 families with 6.500 identified bird species world wide. They are also called perching birds. 3 toes point forward, 1 backwards called hallux and is long. This is called anisodactyl arrangement. This toe constellation makes it easier to hold on to a branch, twig, wire or blade of grass. A further adaptation for perching is a tendon running on the rear side of the leg to the underside of the toes is attached to the muscle behind the Tibiotarsus (the large bone between femur and tarsometatarsus). This makes the feet curl automatically once the leg is bent and becomes stiff when landing on a branch. So they can sleep without falling down and using valuable energy. Bird foot Passerines are mostly insectivorous or omnivorous meaning feeding on insects, small vertebrates, fruits, seeds and nectar. Omnivorous birds change to more carnivorous during breeding season. Plant material has less protein which is required for the chicks to grow fast and strong. The name Passeriformes derives from Greek – Passer = Sparrow, Formis = shape. They originated in the Southern Hemisphere around 60 Mio years ago. Most Passerines have 12 tail feathers. The eggs are coloured in most species. The number of eggs vary from species to species. The chicks are altricial meaning they hedge blind, without feathers and are helpless. They have reflexes to sense when a parent is landing and open their beak wide to get fed. The beak is fringed with yellow skin to signal the feeding parent where to place food. Old world flycatchers – family Muscicapidae is a large family restricted to Europe, Africa and Asia. The name derives from Latin Musca = fly, capere = catch. There had been a lot of changes in this family and several genus from the family Turdidae where moved here. The international Ornithologist Union recognises 357 species in 57 genera. We will go by subfamilies and describe them since the members of this family are very different birds. The subfamily Muscicapinae is diverse but can be broadly classified into 2 groups: Alethe, Flycatchers and Chats. Tribe Copsychini – Alethes and Srub-Robins

Alethe species are medium-seized forest and understorey birds in several genera.

Alethes are brown above and whitish below. Most of the time Alethe species live solitary but can gather to feed on ant swarms. Alethes are well camouflaged and not easy to spot. Local birders know the spots where they can usually find Alethe species. Alethe are mainly insectivorous. Scrub-Robins – Cercotrichas are brownish-reddish birds with white marks. The tail is reddish-black-white and often upright. 5 similar species occur in EA. Sexes are alike. They search for insects in the soil and under leaves and hide under a nearby bush when approached. Tribe Muscicapini contains several genera of Flycatchers – Agricola, Bradornis, Fraseria – Tit-Flycatcher, former Myioparus, Melaenornis / Black Flycatchers, Empidornis – only 1 species – Silverbird, Muscicapa has several species To give you as actual information as possible we use Avibase, the books “Birds of Africa South of the Sahara”, “Birds of East Africa”, “Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania”. Then we put the most characteristic information to the photo. You can also follow us on Facebook “Bird photography Safaris Kenya” and see the numerous species as well as the beautiful photos from Lorenzo Barelli. Click on the photo for larger view. The names of the photographers are on the photo and in the text. Without the generosity of several amazing bird photographers it had not been possible to create the pages with so many illustrated bird species. Those photos without name are from Elvira Wolfer. Here you find samples of our birding safaris. Some of the below listed species are endemic and one needs to know the exact locations where to find them. We know the spots and can generate the journey to see several of these special Alethe and other species listed here.