The "Corvida" were one of two "parvorders" contained within the suborder Passeri, as proposed in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, the other being Passerida. Standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder.
More recent research suggests that this is not a distinct clade—a group of closest relatives and nothing else—but an evolutionary grade instead. As such, it is abandoned in modern treatments, being replaced by a number of superfamilies that are considered rather basal among the Passeri.
It was presumed that cooperative breeding—present in many or most members of the Maluridae, Meliphagidae, Artamidae and Corvidae, among others—is a common apomorphy of this group.[1] But as evidenced by the updated phylogeny, this trait is rather the result of parallel evolution, perhaps because the early Passeri had to compete against many ecologically similar birds (see near passerine).[2]
This table lists, in taxonomic order, the families placed in "Corvida" by the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy in the left column. The right column contains details of their placement in modern systematics.
Corvoidea and Meliphagoidea are placed basally among the Passeri too. They are, however, groups large enough to be considered superfamilies in their own right.
| Family | Modern placement | |
|---|---|---|
| Menuridae lyrebirds | Basalmost Passeri, close to Atrichornithidae | |
| Atrichornithidae scrub-birds | Basalmost Passeri, close to Menuridae | |
| Climacteridae Australian treecreepers | Basal Passeri, close to Ptilonorhynchidae | |
| Ptilonorhynchidae bowerbirds | Basal Passeri, close to Climacteridae | |
| Maluridae fairy-wrens, emu-wrens and grasswrens | Meliphagoidea. Nowadays several families. | |
| Meliphagidae honeyeaters and allies | Meliphagoidea | |
| Pardalotidae pardalotes, scrubwrens, thornbills, and gerygones | Meliphagoidea. Nowadays several families; Pardalotidae proper might belong in Meliphagidae | |
| Petroicidae Australasian robins | Passeri incertae sedis, close to Picathartidae | |
| Orthonychidae logrunners | Passeri incertae sedis, close to Pomatostomidae | |
| Pomatostomidae Australasian babblers | Passeri incertae sedis, close to Orthonychidae | |
| Cinclosomatidae whipbirds and allies | Corvoidea incertae sedis, relationships with Pachycephalidae unresolved | |
| Neosittidae sittellas | Corvoidea | |
| Pachycephalidae whistlers, shrike-thrushes, pitohuis and allies | Corvoidea incertae sedis, highly paraphyletic and relationships with Cinclosomatidae unresolved | |
| Dicruridae monarch flycatchers and allies | Corvoidea. Possibly paraphyletic | |
| Oriolidae orioles and figbirds | Corvoidea | |
| Icteridae | Passerida Passeroidea (the most "modern" main lineage of songbirds) | |
| Artamidae woodswallows, butcherbirds, currawongs and Australian magpie | Corvoidea | |
| Paradisaeidae birds of paradise | Corvoidea | |
| Cnemophilidae satinbirds (included in Paradisaeidae) | Passeri incertae sedis, possibly close to Callaeidae | |
| Corvidae | Corvoidea | |
| Corcoracidae | Corvoidea | |
| Irenidae fairy-bluebirds | Passeri incertae sedis; close to Passeroidea or Regulidae (kinglets) | |
| Laniidae shrikes | Corvoidea | |
| Prionopidae helmetshrikes (initially included in Laniidae) | Corvoidea | |
| Malaconotidae bush-shrikes and allies (initially included in Laniidae) | Corvoidea | |
| Vireonidae vireos | Corvoidea | |
| Vangidae vangas | Corvoidea | |
| Turnagridae piopios | Corvoidea (included in Oriolidae) | |
| Callaeidae New Zealand wattlebirds | Passeri incertae sedis, possibly close to Cnemophilidae |
In addition, the following families were not included in the "Corvida" although their closest relationships are with taxa included therein:
| Family | Sibley-Ahlquist placement | Modern placement | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platysteiridae wattle-eyes | Passerida (included in Muscicapidae) | Corvoidea | |
| Picathartidae rockfowl | Passerida | Passeri incertae sedis, close to Petroicidae | |
| Chaetopidae rockjumpers | Passerida (Turdidae) | Passeri incertae sedis, close to Petroicidae | |
| Melanocharitidae berrypeckers and longbills | Passerida | Passeri incertae sedis, possibly close to Cnemophilidae | |
| Paramythiidae tit berrypecker and crested berrypecker | Passerida (included in Melanocharitidae) | Passeri incertae sedis, possibly close to Cnemophilidae |