Birds of Australia

[1] Of the recorded birds, 165 are considered vagrant or accidental visitors, of the remainder over 45% are classified as Australian endemics: found nowhere else on earth.

[1] It has been suggested that up to 10% of Australian bird species may go extinct by the year 2100 as a result of climate change.

However, the majority of Australian passerines are descended from the ancestors of the crow family, and the close resemblance is misleading: the cause is not genetic relatedness but convergent evolution.

For example, almost any land habitat offers a nice home for a small bird that specialises in finding small insects: the form best fitted to that task is one with long legs for agility and obstacle clearance, moderately-sized wings optimised for quick, short flights, and a large, upright tail for rapid changes of direction.

In consequence, the unrelated birds that fill that role in the Americas and in Australia look and act as though they are close relatives.