Smallest perching bird’s long-lost family revealed by genetics

It might not look exciting, but it is a record breaker

Lip Kee Yap / CC BY-SA 2.0

By Brian Owens

Species: Pygmy Bushtit (Psaltria exilis)
Habitat: Mountainous forests of western Java, Indonesia

The pygmy bushtit’s diminutive size makes it a superlative species, and it has a genus all to itself. But now genetics is showing that it’s not so special after all.

The pygmy bushtit isn’t much to look at. It’s an inconspicuous dull grey, but it is absolutely tiny. So small in fact, that it is the smallest member of the Passeriformes, or perching birds, an order that…

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Smallest perching bird’s long-lost family revealed by genetics