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A new view of the evolutionary history of birds all images © Mark Chappell

Experienced birders are familiar with the 'classic' view of avian phylogeny, indicated by the order in which families appear in field guides:   starting with ratites, penguins, loons, and grebes and concluding with passerine songbirds.   That perspective is being turned on its head -- at least in part -- by new analyses based on gene sequences (Hackett et al. 2008).   This view of avian evolutionary history, shown at right in a figure from Hackett et al.'s paper, confirms some old concepts but contains many surprises.   A few are shown below.   These families are still thought to be closely related:       hummingbirds and swifts             gulls, terns, plovers, sandpipers   These are no longer  thought to be closely related:       grebes and loons                owls and nightjars   We now think THESE   are closely related: shearwaters, albatrosses, penguins         falcons, songbirds, parrots (!)           grebes and flamingos         quail, grouse, ducks