Subfamily ICTERINAE Vigors, 1825

The Zoological Journal, 2, 391–405 (p. 398, as Icterina). Type genus: Icterus Brisson, 1760 .

Diagnosis. No known diagnostic morphological characters, although plumages with striking combinations of black and varying shades of orange and yellow are characteristic, at least in males (Omland & Lanyon 2000). Diagnosed molecularly by the unreversed synapomorphies A11T, A898G, G1036A in mitochondrial ND2 and T8C, C307A in cytochrome b (where M###N indicates ancestral state M, alignment position ###, and derived state N), and in the following nuclear loci: ACO1 intron 9 (a single base deletion at position 48, T307A, A581G, G876A), RAG1 (C659A, T2482C), FGB intron 5 (T172C, C477T, T510G, and T513G), and MB intron 2 (T136C, G320C, G481A, A483C, and C689T).

Component genera: Icterus Brisson, 1760 .