PANURIDAE

family of songbirds, order Passeriformes, consisting of the parrotbills and bearded tits, about 19 species of small titmouselike birds found in the thickets of temperate Eurasia. Members range in size from 10 to 17.5 cm (4 to 7 inches) long. They are distinguished (except for the bearded tit) from all other songbirds by having a sideways flattened bill, like that of a parrot. They are active in flocks, as they wander through brush and thickets, hunting seeds, berries, and small insects. Formerly considered a subfamily (Paradoxornithinae) of the babbler family (Timaliidae) or a subfamily (Panurinae) of the Old World flycatcher family (Muscicapidae), they have also been raised to the family Paradoxornithidae. Their true status is still problematic. The Panuridae belongs to the songbird suborder (Passeres).