The
Gruiformes are an order of
birds which has traditionally included three rather disparate families.
These are the large bustards in the order Otidae, the equally large cranes and the small rails and crakes.
The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy which has been widely accepted in America, raises the rail family to order level as the Galliformes.
References
- Sibley, C. G., and J. Ahlquist. 1990. Phylogeny and classification of birds. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.
- Taxonomic recommendations for British birds. Ibis (2002), 144, 707–710. Alan g. Knox, Martin Collinson, Andreas J. Helbig, David T. Parkin & George Sangster