Abstract:

The author provides an osteological guide to songbirds, based on 11 skeletal parts of 51 genera, at the genus level for ornithologists studying owl pellets, paleontologists and archaezoologists. The mandible, the coracoid bone, the scapula, the humerus, the ulna, the carpometacarp, the first phalanx bone of the second finger, the femur, the tibiotars, the tarsometatars and the claw bone are presented. 

The morphological characteristics and method of measurement of the examined skeletal parts and the photographs of the appropriate bones are illustrated on 52 plates and 17 figures. The measurement data are also pro­vided in 11 size tables. For every discussed bone, 3-6 characteristics are chosen, and their codes consist of 3-6 letters. In case of overlaps, dimensions are the determining factors, and for the humerus and the ulna, the ensemble of the two bone end pairs can be used.