General Information for Gruiformes

The diverse order Gruiformes contains about 12 bird families with, on first sight, little in common...

The diverse order Gruiformes contains about 12 bird families with, on first sight, little in common. Gruiform means "crane-like."

Traditionally, a number of wading and terrestrial bird families that did not seem to belong to any other order were classified together as Gruiformes. These included the large land-based bustards, the very large cranes, the relatively small and secretive water-loving crakes and rails, and the small, plump buttonquail (all families with a wide distribution and a dozen or more member species), as well as a variety of very small families, several of them containing just a single species.

On first sight, the Gruiformes seem to have little in common with one another because they are morphologically diverse. However anatomical evidence indicates that several groups within the traditional Gruiformes do appear to be genetically related. Several subsets of Gruiformes are recognized. The Rallidae and the Heliornithidae are associated as the Ralli (although some authorities have argued that the Rallidae deserve ordinal status). Aramidae and the Psophiidae form the Grui.

A number of potential candidates for Gruiforme status have been rejected. Available evidence suggests that the Otidae, Eurypygidae, Rhynochetidae, Cariamidae, Mesitornithidae and Turnicidae do not properly belong to the Gruiformes. The Eurypygidae and Rhynochetidae are similar and are probably represent Ardeiformes, and are therefore associated with certain birds that are traditionally interpreted as "Cinoniiformes". The Mesitornithidae and Cariamidae are probably Cuculiformes but the Otididae do not seem to be close to other extant birds and the placement of the Turnicidae is not agreed. DNA work has led to the Plains Wanderer being placed as a charadriiform rather than a Turnicid.

Order GRUIFORMES
- Family Aramidae: Limpkin
- Family Psophiidae: trumpeters
- Family Rallidae: crakes and rails
- Family Heliornithidae: finfoots and Sungrebe
- Family Rhynochetidae: Kagu
- Family Eurypigidae: Sunbittern
- Family Cariamidae: seriemas
- Family Otidae: bustards
- Family Gruidae: cranes
- Family Phorusrhacidae: terror birds (extinct)