[2][3] Passerines are divided into three suborders: New Zealand wrens; diverse birds found only in North and South America; and songbirds.

[9] Oscines have the best control of their syrinx muscles among birds, producing a wide range of songs and other vocalizations, though some of them, such as the crows, do not sound musical to human beings.

[13][14] Most passerine birds have 12 tail feathers but the superb lyrebird has 16,[15] and several spinetails in the family Furnariidae have 10, 8, or even 6, as is the case of Des Murs's wiretail.

In many cases, passerine families were grouped together on the basis of morphological similarities that, it is now believed, are the result of convergent evolution, not a close genetic relationship.

[18] The first passerines are now thought to have evolved in the Southern Hemisphere in the late Paleocene or early Eocene, around 50 million years ago.

The New Zealand wrens are the first to become isolated in Zealandia, and the second split involved the origin of the Tyranni in South America and the Passeri in the Australian continent.

A major branch of the Passeri, the parvorder Passerida, dispersed into Eurasia and Africa about 40 million years ago, where they experienced further radiation of new lineages.

[22] Several more recent fossils from the Oligocene of Europe, such as Wieslochia, Jamna, Resoviaornis, and Crosnoornis,[23] are more complete and definitely represent early passeriforms, and have been found to belong to a variety of modern and extinct lineages.

[25] In Europe, perching birds are not too uncommon in the fossil record from the Oligocene onward, belonging to several lineages: That suboscines expanded much beyond their region of origin is proven by several fossils from Germany such as a presumed broadbill (Eurylaimidae) humerus fragment from the Early Miocene (roughly 20 mya) of Wintershof, Germany, the Late Oligocene carpometacarpus from France listed above, and Wieslochia, among others.

[20][6] Extant Passeri super-families were quite distinct by that time and are known since about 12–13 mya when modern genera were present in the corvoidean and basal songbirds.

Since the mid-2000s, studies have investigated the phylogeny of the Passeriformes and found that many families from Australasia traditionally included in the Corvoidea actually represent more basal lineages within oscines.

Several taxa turned out to represent highly distinct lineages, so new families had to be established, some of these – like the stitchbird of New Zealand and the Eurasian bearded reedling – monotypic with only one living species.

For example, the kinglets constitute a single genus with less than 10 species today but seem to have been among the first perching bird lineages to diverge as the group spread across Eurasia.

[33][g] The relationships between the families in the suborder Tyranni (suboscines) were all well determined but some of the nodes in Passeri (oscines or songbirds) were unclear owing to the rapid splitting of the lineages.

Acanthisittidae (New Zealand wrens) Eurylaimidae (eurylaimid broadbills) Philepittidae (asites) Calyptomenidae (African and green broadbills) Pittidae (pittas) Sapayoidae (sapayoa) Melanopareiidae (crescent chests) Conopophagidae (gnateaters) Thamnophilidae (antbirds) Grallariidae (antpittas) Rhinocryptidae (tapaculos) Formicariidae (antthrushes) Scleruridae (leaftossers) Dendrocolaptidae (woodcreepers) Furnariidae (ovenbirds) Pipridae (manakins) Cotingidae (cotingas) Tityridae (tityras, becards) Onychorhynchidae (royal flycatchers & allies) Oxyruncidae (sharpbill) Pipritidae (piprites) Platyrinchidae (spadebills) Tachurididae (many-coloured rush tyrant) Rhynchocyclidae (mionectine flycatchers) Tyrannidae (tyrant flycatchers) Menuridae (lyrebirds) Atrichornithidae (scrubbirds) Climacteridae (Australian treecreepers) Ptilonorhynchidae (bowerbirds) Maluridae (Australasian wrens) Dasyornithidae (bristlebirds) Meliphagidae (honeyeaters) Acanthizidae (Australasian warblers) Pardalotidae (pardalotes) Orthonychidae (logrunners) Pomatostomidae (Australasian babblers) Cinclosomatidae (quail-thrushes, jewel-babblers) Campephagidae (cuckooshrikes) Mohouidae (whitehead & allies) Neosittidae (sittellas) Psophodidae (whipbirds & allies) Eulacestomidae (ploughbill) Falcunculidae (shriketits) Oreoicidae (Australo-Papuan bellbirds) Paramythiidae (painted berrypickers) Vireonidae (vireos) Oriolidae (orioles, figbirds) Pachycephalidae (whistlers) Machaerirhynchidae (boatbills) Artamidae (woodswallows, butcherbirds) Rhagologidae (mottled berryhunter) Malaconotidae (bush-shrikes, puffbacks) Aegithinidae (ioras) Pityriaseidae (bristlehead) Platysteiridae (wattle-eyes, batsies) Vangidae (vangas) Rhipiduridae (fantails) Dicruridae (drongos) Monarchidae (monarchs) Ifritidae (ifrit) Paradisaeidae (birds-of-paradise) Corcoracidae (Australian mudnesters) Melampittidae (melampittas) Corvidae (crows, jays) Laniidae (shrikes) Platylophidae (crested jay) Cnemophilidae (satinbirds) Melanocharitidae (berrypeckers) Callaeidae (New Zealand wattlebirds) Notiomystidae (stitchbird) Petroicidae (Australian robins) Eupetidae (rail-babbler) Chaetopidae (rock-jumpers) Picathartidae (rockfowl) Hyliotidae (hyliotas) Stenostiridae (crested flycatchers) Paridae (tits, chickadees) Remizidae (penduline tits) Alaudidae (larks) Panuridae (bearded reedling) Nicatoridae (nicators) Macrosphenidae (crombecs, African warblers) Cisticolidae (cisticolas) Acrocephalidae (acrocephalid warblers) "Graueriidae" Locustellidae (grassbirds) Bernieridae (Malagasy warblers) Donacobiidae (donacobius) Hirundinidae (martins, swallows) Pnoepygidae (wren warblers) Phylloscopidae (leaf-warblers and allies) Hyliidae (hylias) Aegithalidae (long-tailed tits or bushtits) Erythrocercidae (yellow flycatchers) Cettiidae (Cettia bush warblers and allies) Scotocercidae (streaked scrub warbler) Pycnonotidae (bulbuls) Paradoxornithidae (parrotbills, fulvettas) Sylviidae (typical warblers, sylviid babblers) Zosteropidae (white-eyes) Timaliidae (babblers, tit-babblers, scimitar bablers) Leiothrichidae (laughingthrushes) Pellorneidae (fulvettas, ground babblers) Dulidae (palmchat) Bombycillidae (waxwings) Ptiliogonatidae (silky-flycatchers) Hylocitreidae (hylocitrea) Hypocoliidae (hypocolius) †Mohoidae (Hawaiian honeyeaters) Elachuridae (elechura) Cinclidae (dippers) Muscicapidae (Old World flycatchers, chats) Turdidae (thrushes) Buphagidae (oxpeckers) Mimidae (mockingbirds, thrashers) Sturnidae (starlings, mynas) Regulidae (kinglets) Tichodromidae (wallcreeper) Sittidae (nuthatches) Certhiidae (treecreepers) Salpornithidae (spotted creepers) Polioptilidae (gnatcatchers, gnatwrens) Troglodytidae (wrens) Modulatricidae (dapple-throat & allies) Promeropidae (sugarbirds) Dicaeidae (flowerpeckers) Nectariniidae (sunbirds) Chloropseidae (leafbirds) Irenidae (fairy bluebirds) Peucedramidae (olive warbler) Urocynchramidae (Przevalski's finch) Ploceidae (weavers) Estrildidae (estrildid finches) Viduidae (indigobirds, whydahs) Prunellidae (accentors) Passeridae (sparrows) Motacillidae (wagtails, pipits) Fringillidae (finches, euphonias) Rhodinocichlidae (thrush-tanager) Calcariidae (longspurs, snow buntings) Emberizidae (buntings) Cardinalidae (cardinal grosbeaks) Mitrospingidae (mitrosingus & allies) Thraupidae (tanagers) Passerellidae (American sparrows) Parulidae (wood warblers) Icteridae (New World blackbirds) Icteriidae (yellow-breasted chat) Calyptophilidae (chat-tanagers) Zeledoniidae (wrenthrush) Phaenicophilidae (Hispaniolan tanagers and allies) Nesospingidae (Puerto Rican tanager) Spindalidae (spindalises)