The family has traditionally been grouped with two families of larger birds, the cranes and bustards, as well as several smaller families of usually "primitive" midsized amphibious birds, to make up the order Gruiformes.
A familia foi tradicionalmente agrupada con dous familias de aves grandes, as grúas e as avetardas, e varias familias menores de aves anfibias de mediano tamaño normalmente "primitivas", formando entre todas a orde Gruiformes.