Landbird Photo Albums

The first of two landbird album collections that group together birds from the oldest in time-ordered evolutionary history, see Taxonomy note below. Each photo album includes at least one image gallery the first; displays bird portraits of individual species. I also include juvenile, immature, male and female birds when I’ve photographed them. A second gallery supplements the first to feature behaviour images, such as hunting, nesting, feeding, or mating. I shot all the featured landbird images in their natural habitat, which include forest and woodland sometimes near bodies of water.

Crested Fireback (Lophura ignita rufa) male at Taman Negara National Park in Malaysia

Landfowl habitat for some family members is wide-ranging but constrained for others. The flightless landbirds distribution is limited to the Australasian ecozone.

Galapagos Dove (Zenaida galapagoensis) on the ground at Espanola Island

A cosmopolitan bird family found in most terrestrial habitats. Distribution for each genus or sometimes a species may be widespread or limited to one small area.

Malay Hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx fugax) perched at Bidadari Cemetery Woodland in Singapore

Cuckoos are cosmopolitan birds that inhabit forest and woodlands. The gallery features species from Indomalaya, Australasia and Neotropic regions of the world.

White-chested Emerald Hummingbird (Amazilia brevirostris chionopectus) perched in Trinidad

Hummingbirds occupy a variety of habitats in the New World. The featured hummingbird relatives include nightjars, potoos and the oilbird. A separated gallery displays behavioural and action photographs.

Landbird Photo Album Taxonomy

The Aves orders assigned to each landbirds photo album page follows that given Taxonomy in Flux Checklist. The simplified taxonomy family tree shows the oldest landbirds in time-ordered evolutionary history applicable to this album.

Flightless and Landfowl Birds album contains one order from Palaeognathae; Casuariiformes (Cassowaries and Emus) and one from Galloanserae; Galliformes (Landfowl). These are not related orders, but I’ve lumped them together as I have a limited number of species images for display. Galliformes (landfowl) is sister to Anseriformes (Waterfowl) images feature in the Waterbird Photo Albums.

Doves and Pigeons belong to the Columbiformes order, part of superorder Columbimorphae.

Cuckoos and Allies feature in the third album and belong to Cuculiformes, superorder Otidimorphae.

Hummingbirds and Relatives album groups together several orders that belong to the Strisores clade, which includes: Caprimulgiformes (Nightjars), Steatornithiformes* (Oilbird), Nyctibiiformes* (Potoos) and Apodiformes (Hummingbirds). The asterisk (*) indicates orders that the IOC Order of Birds show as members of the Caprimulgiformes (Nightjars) order in superorder Caprimulgimorphae.