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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. Information

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.

Superfamily – Paroidea – Tits and Penduline-Tits

Family Remizidae – Penduline-Tit

They are quite small (7.5 – 11 cm) warbler like insectivorous species. They are related to the True Tits and have as well a needle-sharp pointed small bill. The tail and wings are short and they dominate colour is greyish-brown.

They occur on most continents except Antarctica, Arctica, Australia etc. Those species from Europe and Asia are migrants, others residents. The habitat is open land with bushes and trees from dry to humid regions.

What is special about them? The pear-shaped nest is built with soft plant material, seeds, leaves and woven together with spider webs. The entrance has an overlapping flap to protect the entrance. The nest hangs from a branch. Penduline-Tits live in pairs, sexes are alike and both take care of the nest construction and upbringing of the chicks.

Family Paridae – Tits

Are small stocky birds in Africa from 10 – 15 cm. They live in forests and open woodland, some in arid regions. They diet consists of insects and seeds.

The genus in Africa South of the Sahara is Melaniparus. Black together with white, grey, brownish is valid for all species. Formerly they were in the genus Parus but were split in 2013.
They live mostly in pairs and breed in tree holes. They are fast moving and activly searching for food.

Family Hyliidae

Has only 2 species Tit-hylia and Green Hylia, both are insectivorous forest birds. The family was founded in 2019. In Eastern Africa you can only meet the Tit-hylia in Uganda.

They feed among other insects on Coccidae which have the names soft scales, wax scales and tortoise scales. Hyliidae live in small, social groups and sleep together in a ball like nest.

Family Certhiidae, Subfamily Salpornithinae – Creepers

Members of this family have been in the family Sittidae – Nuthatches but are now in their own family and subfamily.

They are small birds found South of the Sahara. Their habitat is deciduous woodland (Miombo and Brachystegia). They are well camouflaged and creep along stem and branches in search of insects. After creeping up a stem, they drop down to the ground and start creeping up the next tree. Their nest is in a tree hole. They aren’t easy to spot.

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. Species listed here are among rare and hard to find. Many have small distribution areas which will make travelling necessary or you concentrate on your dream species.